Lars Bildsten (born 1964) is an American astrophysicist, best known for his work on the physics of white dwarfs and their explosions as Type Ia supernovae.

[1][2] Bildsten was then a research fellow at Caltech for three years, after which he accepted a faculty appointment at the University of California, Berkeley.

Rising from assistant to associate professor, in both the physics and astronomy departments, he moved to UCSB in 1999.

[4] In addition to his university teaching and research, Bildsten has devoted significant effort to strengthening science and engineering education in grades 7–12.

A member of the board of directors of Santa Barbara's Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy Foundation, he worked to raise $3 million in funding for a dedicated facility and to support math tutors.