David E. Pritchard received his BS from California Institute of Technology and his PhD from Harvard, working with Professor Daniel Kleppner.

Pritchard joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at MIT in 1970. Pritchard is currently the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at the Research Laboratory of Electronics there.

His research interests are in the field of atom optics, which he has applied to basic studies of quantum theory, to new methods for studying the properties of atoms, and to the creation of devices such as the atom interferometer and atom wave gyroscope.

Pritchard has been awarded the Herbert P. Broida Prize and the Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Sciences, both from the American Physical Society. He has served on the Board of Directors of OSA and the Interbuild Corporation. He is a Fellow of the Society and recipient of the 2004 Max Born Award.