List of Famous people who are 72

Erny Kirchen is a former Luxembourgian cyclist. He competed in the individual road race at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He is the nephew of cyclist Jeng Kirchen and the father of cyclist Kim Kirchen.

Bernard Devauchelle is a French oral and maxillofacial surgeon, best known for successfully completing the first face transplant in November 2005 at Amiens University Hospital.

H. Jeff Kimble, is the William L. Valentine Professor and Professor of Physics at Caltech. His research is in quantum optics and is noted for groundbreaking experiments in physics including one of the first demonstrations of teleportation of a quantum state, quantum logic gate, and the development of the first single atom laser. According to Elizabeth Rogan, OSA CEO, "Jeff has led a revolution in modern physics through his pioneering research in the coherent control of the interactions of light and matter." Kimble's main research focus is in quantum information science and the quantum dynamics of open systems.

C. James Koch is an American entrepreneur, the co-founder and chairman of the Boston Beer Company, the producers of Samuel Adams beer.

Sir Paul Maxime Nurse, is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Leland Hartwell and Tim Hunt for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle.