Cumrun Vafa

Cumrun Vafa is the Donner Professor of Science at Harvard University, where he teaches and does research on theoretical physics. His main area of research is string theory which aims to uncover the fundamental laws of nature from the smallest subatomic scales to the largest cosmological scales. It is the most promising candidate for a complete theory of the quantum properties of gravity. String theory is one of the most mathematical and abstract areas of physics. Cumrun's contributions involve relating geometrical aspects of spacetime with fundamental forces of natures. He is well known for his work on quantum aspects of black holes.

Cumrun came to the US for continuation of his education, having studied at Alborz High School in Tehran, Iran. He earned his B.S. at MIT in mathematics and physics in 1981 and his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1985. He came to Harvard in 1985 as a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of fellows and has been on the Harvard faculty since 1988.