John J. Hopfield headshot
Past Visiting Professor

John J. Hopfield

Martin A. and Helen Chooljian Visiting Professor in Biology

Affiliation

Natural Sciences

Field of Study

Biology
From
Physical systems with a large number of simple interacting parts typically exhibit robust collective dynamics. Brains are large systems whose cellular properties and interactions have evolved to yield activity dynamics that solve computational problems relevant to survival. John Hopfield’s current research examines issues such as “thinking” and “perception” in the intersection between these two ideas.

Dates at IAS

Visiting Professor
School of Natural Sciences

Degrees

Cornell University
Ph.D.
1958
Swarthmore College
A.B.
1954

Honors

2024
Nobel Prize in Physics
2019
Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, Franklin Institute
2012
Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
2009
Frank Rosenblatt Award
2001
Dirac Medal
1983
MacArthur Fellowship
1969
Guggenheim Fellow
1962
Alfred P. Sloan Fellow

Appointments

Princeton University
Professor of Physics 1964–80; Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics 1979–80; Professor of Molecular Biology 1997–2008; Howard A. Prior Professor of Molecular Biology 2002–08
California Institute of Technology
Roscoe G. Dickinson Professor of Chemistry and Biology 1980–96