Edward Witten

Edward Witten is a scientist recognized for his research contributions to string theory, M theory, quantum gravity and supersymmetry. Born in Baltimore in 1951, Witten was originally a history major at Massachusetts Brandeis University, attaining his bachelor s degree in 1971. Five years later he obtained a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton after first earning a master s degree from the same school. Witten has been described as the most brilliant physicist of his generation and the world s greatest living theoretical physicist. In 2004 TIME magazine included him on its annual rundown of the 100 most influential people in the world. Although he is a physicist, Witten has had a major effect on mathematics, and he has a slew of awards to his name, including the Fields Medal, the Dirac Prize, the Albert Einstein Medal and the Nemmers Prize in Mathematics. He is currently a professor at Princeton s Institute for Advanced Study.