John J. Hopfield, Pioneer of Artificial Neural Networks, Wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics
John J. Hopfield, Visiting Professor (2010–13) in the School of Natural Sciences, currently based at Princeton University, was named a recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto. The pair was cited “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”
Combining tools from physics, molecular biology, and neuroscience, Hopfield has deepened fundamental understanding of neural networks. His work serves as a foundation for the fast-evolving field of machine learning, which draws its inspiration from the structure of the brain. Whereas, pathways in the brain are composed of neurons and synapses, artificial neural networks are based on a series of interconnected nodes. Within this framework, Hopfield invented a network, which bears his name, along with a method for saving and recreating patterns.
While at IAS, as the Martin A. and Helen Chooljian Visiting Professor in Biology, Hopfield’s research examined “thinking” and “perception” and the intersections between these two ideas. He remains active within the Institute’s Simons Center for Systems Biology, which concentrates on research at the interface of molecular biology and the physical sciences.
Theoretical neuroscientist Misha Tsodyks, who is C. V. Starr Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, reflected on Hopfield's influence, stating, "His groundbreaking theory of associative memory made a huge impact on brain research and attracted a large number of theoretical physicists to neuroscience."
Hopfield serves as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, and is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Buckley Prize (1969), the MacArthur Award (1983–88), the Dirac Medal (2001), and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics (2019).
Among present and past IAS Faculty and Members, there have been 36 Nobel Laureates, including James Peebles, Member (1977–78) and Visitor (1990–91, 1998–99) and Roger Penrose, Visitor (1980). Past Institute Professors Chen-Ning Yang (楊振寧) and the late Tsung-Dao Lee (李政道) were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, becoming the first people of Chinese descent to receive this honor.
Read more about the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics laureates on the Nobel Prize website.
