"For his pioneering work in the development of superstring theory."
Background:Education: 1967 BA in Physics from Cambridge University 1970 PhD in Elementary Particle Theory, Physics Department, Cambridge University
Employment: 1970-1972 Postdoctoral fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ 1972-1977 Postdoctoral fellow, Cambridge University 1977-1978 Advanced fellow, Oxford University 1978-1987, Lecturer in Physics, Queen Mary College, University of London 1987-1993, Professor of Physics, Queen Mary College, University of London 1993- John Humphrey Plummer Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
Research: My early research was in elementary particle theory with special emphasis on string theory applied to the strong interactions. Between 1979 and 1984 John Schwarz and I developed superstring theory and elucidated its consistency as a perturbatively finite and anomaly free quantum theory of gravity. Subsequently I have been involved in unraveling the underlying geometrical structure of the theory by studying nonperturbative effects associated with stringy solitons and instantons.
Awards and honors: 1987 William Hopkins Prize, Cambridge Philosophical Society 1987 Maxwell Medal, Institute of Physics 1989 Dirac Medal, International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste 1989 Fellowship of the Royal Society
Jonathan Bagger (Chair), Ezra Newman, Sidney Coleman ('00 Rcpnt), Martin Gutzwiller (V Chair), Stephen Shenker