Peter Eisenberger has studied and worked in the applied sciences field for more than four decades. He started his career at Bell Laboratories in 1968 where from 1974-1981 he was a department head and his research interests involved using X-ray produced by Synchrotron radiation to study the structural properties of complex solids and surfaces. In 1981, Eisenberger joined Exxon Research and Engineering Company as Director of their Physical Sciences laboratory, where he remained until 1989.
In 1989, Dr. Eisenberger was appointed Professor of Physics and Director of the Princeton Materials Institute at Princeton University that he founded. From 1996-1999, he was appointed Vice Provost of the Earth Institute and Director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University and today is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia, currently on sabbatical leave. Eisenberger also was a director at Cross Border Exchange from 2000-2003.