NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Professor  George F. Smoot  – Chair of the 2021 HLMA  Steering  Committee

Hang Lung Mathematics Awards (HLMA) is privileged to have 2006 Nobel Laureate Professor George Smoot serve as Chair of the 2021 HLMA Steering Committee, the advisory body which provides guidance, and oversight of the Awards.  Professor Smoot is Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley; IAS TT & WF Chao Foundation Professor, Chair Professor of Physics and Director of Center for Fundamental Physics at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.   

Professor Smoot is an active researcher in observational astrophysics and cosmology.  He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, jointly with John C. Mather, for their work that led to the discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This work helped further the Big Bang theory of the universe using the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. 
 
Professor Smoot is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Physical Society.  He was a recipient of the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1991), Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award from the US Department of Energy (1995), Einstein Medal from Albert Einstein Society (2003), Daniel Chalonge Medal from the International School of Astrophysics (2006) and Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2006). 
  
Professor Smoot is an author of more than 500 science papers and is also co-author (with Keay Davidson) of the book Wrinkles in Time (1994) that elucidates cosmology and chronicles the team efforts in the COBE’s discoveries.  A great teacher and a keen advocate of popular science, Professor Smoot received the Oersted Medal in 2009 for his notable contributions to the teaching of physics. 

Professor Smoot received his Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Physics and his PhD in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he has been at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1970.   
 
With Professor Smoot’s visionary leadership and expertise, we are confident that he will help bring HLMA to even greater heights in the years ahead.