Kent Cullers (July 21, 1949 – July 17, 2021) was an American astronomer, who was a manager of SETI's Project Phoenix. In 2005, he retired from the SETI Institute.
Early life and education
Cullers was born in July 1949 in El Reno, Oklahoma, the son of an oil field engineer. His birth was premature and to save his life he was placed in an incubator filled with pure oxygen. The excess oxygen damaged his retinas, leaving him totally blind.
In popular culture
Cullers was the subject of a short documentary film produced by his wife, the photographer Lisa Powers. The character Kent Clark, portrayed by William Fichtner in the 1997 film Contact, was based on Cullers.