Rate My Professor Edward Witten

Edward Witten is Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study. He received a B.A. in history from Brandeis University in 1971, an M.A. from Princeton University in 1974, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976. He held postdoctoral positions at Harvard University before joining the faculty at Princeton University as a professor of physics in 1980. In 1987 he moved to the Institute for Advanced Study, where he was appointed the Charles Simonyi Professor of Mathematical Physics; he is now Professor Emeritus.

Witten’s research focuses on mathematical physics, with major contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and related areas of mathematics. He received the Fields Medal in 1990, the first physicist to be so honored. Additional honors include a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, the National Medal of Science in 2002, the Kyoto Prize in 2014, and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012. He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, among other academies. His work has influenced both theoretical physics and pure mathematics through applications of physical ideas to problems in geometry and topology.