Edward Witten
Edward Witten · Ojan, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Person

Edward Witten

b. 1951

American theoretical physicist

Born
26 Aug 1951 · Baltimore

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 86 years
  1. 26 Aug 1951BornBorn in Baltimore
  2. 1982AwardMacArthur Fellows Program
  3. 1985AwardAlbert Einstein Medal
  4. 1985AwardICTP Dirac Medal
  5. 1986AwardAlan T. Waterman Award
  6. 1990AwardFields medal
  7. 1993AwardJames Madison Medal
  8. 1997AwardGolden Plate Award
  9. 1998AwardDannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
  10. 1998AwardJosiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship
  11. 1998AwardOskar Klein Medal
  12. 1999AwardForeign Member of the Royal Society
  13. 2000AwardNemmers Prize in Mathematics

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Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1951 – today).

  1. 1953 – 1959Cuban Revolution
  2. 19541954 FIFA World Cup
  3. 1955 – 1975Vietnam War
  4. 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
  5. 1956Suez Crisis
  6. 19581958 FIFA World Cup
  7. 1959Antarctic Treaty System
  8. 19621962 FIFA World Cup
  9. 1962Cuban Missile Crisis
  10. 19661966 FIFA World Cup
  11. 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
  12. 1968Prague Spring
  13. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
  14. 19721972 Summer Olympics
  15. 19741974 FIFA World Cup
  16. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  17. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  18. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  19. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  20. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  21. 1985Schengen Agreement
  22. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  23. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  24. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  25. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  26. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  27. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  28. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  29. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  30. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  31. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  32. 20062006 FIFA World Cup
  33. 20082008 Summer Olympics
  34. 2008Russo-Georgian War
  35. 20102010 Haiti earthquake
  36. 2010 – 2012Arab Spring
  37. 20112011 Norway attacks
  38. 2011Libyan civil war
  39. 2011 – 2024Syrian civil war
  40. 20122012 Summer Olympics

Biography

Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, general relativity and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the school of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union, for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity, and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.

Text from the Wikipedia article Edward Witten, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.

We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.