Curriculum Vitae

Education
Ph.D. Theoretical Physics & Applied Mathematics Cambridge Univ. 1970
Part III Mathematics Tripos, with distinction Cambridge Univ. 1967
B.A. Chemistry & Physics, summa cum laude Harvard College 1966
 

Employment History
Provost Boston University September 2005-present
Provost ad interim Boston University 2004-2005
Dean, College of Engineering Boston University 2000-present
Department Head and Professor University of Illinois 1992-2000
Adjunct Prof. of Physics University of New Mexico 1990-1992
Director, Center for Nonlinear Studies Los Alamos 1987-1992
Staff Member Los Alamos 1977-1992
J.R. Oppenheimer Fellow Los Alamos 1974-77
Exchange Scientist to Soviet Union Natl. Acad. of Sciences 1977
Member, Inst. for Advanced Study Princeton University 1972-74
Fellow, Center of Advanced Study University of Illinois 1970-72
Inst. & Res. Assoc., Dept. of Physics University of Illinois 1970-72
     
Selected Honors, Awards, and Editorial Positions
Editor-in-Chief CHAOS 1991–present
Stanislaw Ulam Fellow Los Alamos National Laboratory 1998–99
Divisional Associate Editor Physical Review Letters 1988–91
Fellow American Physical Society 1990
Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science 1988
Exchange Scientist PROC Ministry of Education 1986
Visiting Professor Univ. de Dijon, France 1984 and 1985
NSF Predoctoral Fellowship Cambridge University 1968-70
Marshall Scholarship Cambridge University 1966-68
     

Research Contributions
  1. The first realization of the relation of strong interaction chiral symmetry and pion condensation, establishing a link between it and the "abnormal" nuclear matter proposed by Lee and Wick.
  2. The solution of a skyrmion-like model nuclear field theory using his novel variant of the "inverse scattering technique."
  3. The demonstration of a correspondence between relativistic field theories and models of quasi-onedimensional solids, providing analytic forms for "kink'" solitons, polarons, bipolarons, and polarexcitons and determining their signatures in experiments.
  4. The description of the interplay of nonlinearity and electron-electron interactions in novel electronic materials, including proof of the stability of solitons in conducting polymers, analysis of the optical spectra of strongly correlated systems, and the first exact numerical diagonalization of the t-J model of high Tc superconductors.
  5. The discovery and interpretation of a surprising resonance phenomenon in the scattering interactions of kink-like solitary waves in non-integrable theories.
  6. The analysis of the existence of spatially extended, time periodic ("breather"') solutions in continuum and discrete systems.
     

Current Research Interests
  • Possible observable consequences of chaos and quantum chaos in nanoscale structures, including semiconductor superlattices and mesoscopic rings in Aharanov- Bohm fields;
  • True many-body studies (exact diagnalization, quantum Monte Carlo, Bethe Ansatz) of the effects of electron-electron interactions in novel materials, including spin-Peierls, charge density wave, and high Tc systems.