Dan Stamper-Kurn is professor of physics at University of California, Berkeley and a faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research interests lie in areas opened up by the developing field of ultracold atomic physics, such as the chance to study many-body quantum physics, to explore the "coherent optics" and "quantum optics" of matter waves, to realise novel consequences of light-atom interactions, and to perform precision measurements of scientific and technological importance.

He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at UC Berkeley and his PhD at MIT. He has published widely in journals such as Nature, Nature Physics, and Physical Review Letters.