Stephen Hawking leaves "Newton's chair" at Cambridge

Stephen Hawking leaves "Newton's chair" at Cambridge

50 mins ago
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – British physicist Stephen Hawking will step down from one of the most famous academic posts in the world this week.

The "Brief History of Time" author is scheduled to leave Cambridge University's Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics, a position that has been held by only 17 men including the father of physics Isaac Newton.

Holders of the post traditionally step down at the age of 67, which Hawking reached in January.

Hawking has held the post at Cambridge's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) since 1979, where he supervises PhD students. It is often referred to as a "chair."

He will take up a new role as Director of Research in the DAMTP, where he will continue to lead efforts in cosmology and gravitation.

He also remains the principal investigator for the COSMOS National Cosmology Supercomputer and will play an active role in the Center for Theoretical Cosmology, which aims to advance understanding of the universe, the university said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_science_hawking_cambridge

It just says no one has been named yet.

Most physics geeks know who he is.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)

Edit: Sorry, the wiki link will not post correctly on DU, copy/paste and remove the space before the "("

Hawking's predecessor was James Lighthill, director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and had held chairs at Manchester and Imperial College when he was appointed. And before him, it was Paul Dirac. Cox is an excellent communicator, and does hold a chair at Manchester, but this position is more or less for the preeminent mathematician/theoretical physicist in the UK, and I don't think he's that high.

Cox is a fabulous evangelist for the field and IMO that should be a major part of the criteria.

He gets my vote, if I had one. :)