is a theoretical physicist working on quantum field theory, quantum gravity, superstring theory, and their interfaces with mathematics. He is Fred Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics and the Founding Director of the

Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics The Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research center at the California Institute of Technology focused on high-energy physics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics, general relativity, and cosmology. It was founded in 2014. ...

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. He is also the director of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

and is the chair of the board of trustees of the

Aspen Center for Physics The Aspen Center for Physics is a non-profit Center for research in Physics based in Aspen, Colorado, United States. The Center organizes workshops and conferences to facilitate interactions among research physicists. The Center was founded in 19 ...

in Colorado. Ooguri aims at discovering mathematical structures in these theories and exploiting them to invent new theoretical tools to solve fundamental questions in physics. In particular, he developed the topological string theory to compute

Feynman diagram In theoretical physics, a Feynman diagram is a pictorial representation of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior and interaction of subatomic particles. The scheme is named after American physicist Richard Feynman, who introduc ...

s in superstring theory and used it to study mysterious quantum mechanical properties of black holes. He also made fundamental contributions to conformal field theories in two dimensions, D-branes in Calabi-Yau manifolds, the AdS/CFT correspondence, and properties of supersymmetric gauge theories and their relations to superstring theory.

Career

Finishing his graduate study in two years, Ooguri became a tenured faculty member at the

in 1986. He was a member the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

in Princeton and was appointed an assistant professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

before receiving his Ph.D. in 1989. He was an associate professor at Kyoto University in 1990–1994 and returned to the United States as a professor of physics at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1994. He moved

(Caltech) in 2000, where he is the inaugural holder of the Fred Kavli Chair. At Caltech, Ooguri served as the deputy chair of the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, equivalent of a vice dean of physical sciences. He led the establishment of the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics and was appointed its founding director in 2014. Ooguri also helped establish the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Japan in 2007. After serving as its principal investigator for 11 years, he became the director in 2018. Ooguri has been a member of the

since 2003. After serving as the scientific secretary a trustee, and the president, he was elected the chair of the board of trustees of the center in 2021. Ooguri is a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

and an investigator of the

Simons Foundation The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

. He has received the Eisenbud Prize from the American Mathematical Society, the

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...

and the Hamburg Prize in Germany, and the

Nishina Memorial Prize The is the oldest and most prestigious physics award in Japan. Information Since 1955, the Nishina Memorial Prize has been awarded annually by the Nishina Memorial Foundation. The Foundation was established to commemorate Yoshio Nishina, who w ...

in Japan. Ooguri's popular science books have sold over a quarter million copies in Japan, and one of them was awarded the Kodansha Prize for Science Books. He also supervised a science movie, which was selected for the Best Educational Production Award from the International Planetarium Society.

Awards

* Leonard Eisenbud Prize for Mathematics and Physics, awarded by the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

(2008). This was the inaugural prize, which he shared with

Andrew Strominger Andrew Eben Strominger (; born 1955) is an American theoretical physicist who is the director of Harvard's Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature. He has made significant contributions to quantum gravity and string theory. These include his ...

and

Cumrun Vafa Cumrun Vafa ( fa, کامران وفا ; born 1 August 1960) is an Iranian-American theoretical physicist and the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard University. Early life and education Cumrun Vafa was born in Tehra ...

. * Takagi Lecturer, the only named lecture series of the

Mathematical Society of Japan The Mathematical Society of Japan (MSJ, ja, 日本数学会) is a learned society for mathematics in Japan. In 1877, the organization was established as the ''Tokyo Sugaku Kaisha'' and was the first academic society in Japan. It was re-organized ...

(2008). *

from the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Rese ...

(2009). *

from the Nishina Foundation (2009). *

Simons Investigator Award The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

(2012). * Fellow of the

, 2012. * Kodansha Prize for Science books (2013). * Fellow of the

(since 2016). * Chunichi Cultural Prize (2016). * Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics (2018) * Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon (2019)

Other activities

Ooguri has organized many international conferences and workshops, including Strings `98 in Santa Barbara, Strings 2003 in Kyoto,Strings 2003 Conference:http://www.yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/contents/seminar/archive/2003/str2003 and Strings 2018 in Okinawa. Ooguri has been on the editorial boards of

Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics '' Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics'' ''(ATMP)'' is a peer-reviewed, mathematics journal, published by International Press. Established in 1997, the journal publishes articles on theoretical physics and mathematics. The current ...

, the

Journal of High Energy Physics The ''Journal of High Energy Physics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering the field of high energy physics. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the International School for Advanced Stu ...

(1997–2006),

Nuclear Physics B Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclea ...

(1998–2013),

Physical Review D Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

(2006–2009) and Communications in Mathematical Physics (2014–2015). He has also served on various boards and advisory committees.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ooguri, Hirosi Japanese string theorists Living people 1962 births People from Gifu Prefecture Kyoto University alumni University of Tokyo alumni California Institute of Technology faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of Chicago faculty Academic staff of Kyoto University Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Simons Investigator Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon