Lee Smolin

Lee Smolin
Lee Smolin at Harvard
Born	(1955-06-06) June 6, 1955 (age 61) New York City
Nationality	American
Fields	Physics Cosmology
Institutions	Perimeter Institute, University of Waterloo
Alma mater	Hampshire College (B.A., 1975) Harvard University (A.M., 1978; Ph.D, 1979)
Doctoral advisor	Sidney Coleman Stanley Deser
Notable awards	Majorana Prize (2007) Klopsteg Memorial Award (2009) Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013)

Lee Smolin (/ˈsmoʊlɪn/; born 1955) is an American theoretical physicist, a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto.

Smolin is best known for his contributions to quantum gravity theory, in particular the approach known as loop quantum gravity. He advocates that the two primary approaches to quantum gravity, loop quantum gravity and string theory, can be reconciled as different aspects of the same underlying theory. His research interests also include cosmology, elementary particle theory, the foundations of quantum mechanics, and theoretical biology.

Smolin was born in New York City. His brother, David M. Smolin, became a professor in the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.

Smolin dropped out of Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was educated at Hampshire College. He received his Ph.D in theoretical physics from Harvard University in 1979. He held postdoctoral research positions at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara and the University of Chicago, before becoming a faculty member at Yale, Syracuse and Pennsylvania State Universities. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1995 and a visiting professor at Imperial College London (1999-2001) before becoming one of the founding faculty members at the Perimeter Institute in 2001.