Witten is renowned for his contributions to String Theory - the framework physicists have sought to unify the four fundamental forces of nature into one mathematical picture.

Witten is the Charles Simonyi Professor of Mathematical Physics in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, a private, independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. Founded in 1930, the institute’s first professors included Albert Einstein and John von Neumann.

Witten has more in common with Einstein than his association with the institute. Renowned for his contributions to String Theory - the framework physicists have sought to unify the four fundamental forces of nature - gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force and the weak force - into one mathematical picture. He is considered by many to be the successor to Einstein.

String Theory unites quantum mechanics - the basis for understanding the world of individual particles, protons, neutrons and electrons - with general relativity or Einstein’s theory of gravity, the basic theory for understanding the universe at large. If successful, String Theory would provide the much sought after complete unification of physics, the so-called “Theory of Everything.”

String theorists propose that tiny, high-dimensional strings, closed into loops, vibrate to produce the various components of matter. Many physicists believe the mathematics describing these strings may one day prove to be the key to one of the main puzzles of physics: the relationship of gravity to other known natural forces.

Witten is the recipient of many honors and awards, including mathematics’ highest prize, the Fields Medal, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Einstein Medal, the Dirac Medal and the Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation. Last November, he received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for researchers in fields of science and engineering.

He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a board member of Americans for Peace Now. The author of nearly 200 scientific papers, Witten is also a co-author of “Superstring Theory” (Cambridge University Press).

A native of Baltimore, Witten was born in 1951 and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976. He was a fellow at Harvard University (1976-1980) and a professor at Princeton University (1980-87) before becoming a member of the permanent faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1987.