Celebrating Science In A Fractured Society took place at the Staller Center on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. With over 900 people in attendance, this panel discussion brought together pioneers in Physics and Astrophysics. A thought provoking conversation among the participants about education, society, and the future of science gave way for a wonderful evening. The […]
Archive | Outreach

TIMELESS AND BORDERLESS ADVENTURE: Conversation with Cumrun Vafa
Professor of Physics, Harvard University Chairman of the SCGP Board of Trustees Interview by Maria Shtilmark The recipients of the 2017 Breakthrough Prizes were announced on December 4th, 2016, marking the organization’s fifth anniversary recognizing top achievements in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. Dr. Cumrun Vafa, along with Drs. Joseph Polchinski and Andrew […]

MULTI-FACETED SUCCESS: Conversation with Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith
Director of Energy Research, Oxford University President SESAME Council Interview by Maria Shtilmark Thank you so much for the fantastic talks you gave at the Simons Center. The Della Pietra lecture series has also hosted David Gross, with whom you have written your article “High Energy Neutrino-Nucleon Scattering, Current Algebra and Partons,”[1] which resulted in […]

DANCERS AND LONE WOLVES: Conversation with Eliezer Rabinovici
Leon H. and Ada G. Miller Chair of Science Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Interview by Elyce Winters Edited by Maria Shtilmark Welcome to the Simons Center. Could we start with what is your area of research? Thank you. Well, I am a particle physicist, one of the breed that you […]

IT FEELS LIKE COMING HOME — CONVERSATION WITH LUIS ÁLVAREZ-GAUMÉ
Director of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics Interview by Maria Shtilmark Let us begin with Stony Brook where you obtained your PhD in 1981. How did your thesis and your advisor influence your future in theoretical physics? There was quite an influence! I came to Stony Brook at the end of August 1978, […]

THE MAGIC OF STRING THEORY
Conversation with Michael Green, FRS, Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and a fellow in Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. Interview by Maria Shtilmark You are a theoretical physicist, but the topic of the Simons Center workshop you spoke at was “Automorphic Forms, Mock Modular Forms and String Theory” (Aug 29-Sept […]

Reflections On How This All Came About. Conversation with John Morgan
Interview by Maria Shtilmark How did you become the Director of the SCGP? I was quite happy being a math professor at Columbia. I had heard about the Simons Center, mainly as Mike Douglas was ‘on the market’ and, together with the Physics department at Columbia, we made him an offer. It looked like we […]

I JUST LIKE PINK FLOYD. Conversation with Martin Hairer, Regius Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematics Department of the University of Warwick
Interview by Maria Shtilmark Pleasure to welcome you at the Simons Center. You were able to not only come to the Center, but to be a sole organizer of the workshop on Stochastic Partial Differential Equations. What were the workshop’s highlights? We naturally focused on recent developments. I tried to invite participants from different directions, […]

A True Gentleman. Conversation with Tony Phillips
After 50 years with the Stony Brook Math Department Anthony V. Phillips has officially become Professor Emeritus as of May 31, 2016. The following interview features toasts presented at the farewell tea, held in the Math Department Common Room to celebrate Tony’s life at Stony Brook University. Interview by Maria Shtilmark Was the farewell tea party a […]

Lorraine Walsh, Art Program Director, organizes a student field trip to view Zimoun’s collaborative exhibitions
February 25th, 2015 The Simons Center bus trip to view Zimoun’s art began with his solo exhibition at the Simons Center Gallery. The students then visited Zimoun’s exhibits at the alternative art space Knockdown Center in Maspeth, Queens and ended at Bitforms Gallery, NYC. The students from Lorraine Walsh’s Museum Studies class were joined by […]