Dr. John Preskill stands as a preeminent figure in theoretical physics and quantum information science, currently holding the distinguished Richard P. Feynman Professorship at the California Institute of Technology where he also directs the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter. Having earned his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1980, he was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows before joining the faculty at Caltech as an Associate Professor of Physics in 1983. He joined the Caltech faculty in 1983, where he was appointed the John D. MacArthur Professor in 2002 and subsequently the Richard P. Feynman Professor in 2010. Dr. Preskill initially established his reputation in particle physics and quantum field theory before pioneering the application of quantum mechanics to computational challenges in the 1990s.
His groundbreaking contributions to quantum information science have fundamentally reshaped our understanding of quantum computing's potential and limitations, with his celebrated lecture notes on Quantum Computation, available online since 1997, serving as an influential foundational resource that has guided generations of researchers in the field. Dr. Preskill has pioneered methods for quantum error correction and developed innovative approaches for protecting quantum systems from decoherence through clever software and hardware design. His visionary work has demonstrated how quantum computers can solve otherwise intractable problems through quantum simulation and has forged crucial connections between quantum information theory and deep questions in fundamental physics. This integrative research has catalyzed transformative advances in understanding topological phases of matter, nonequilibrium quantum dynamics, and the quantum properties of black holes and spacetime.
As a founding director of Caltech's Institute for Quantum Information established in 2000, which later evolved into the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, Dr. Preskill has cultivated one of the world's leading centers for quantum research and fostered international collaborations across physics and computer science. He has mentored more than 60 Ph.D. students and 60 postdoctoral scholars at Caltech, many of whom now lead prominent research groups worldwide, while his leadership in the field has been recognized through election to the National Academy of Sciences and fellowship in the American Physical Society. His exceptional contributions have recently been honored with the prestigious 2024 John Stewart Bell Prize and the Academic Pioneer in Quantum Award from the Quantum World Congress. Dr. Preskill continues to explore the profound connections between quantum information and fundamental physics, guiding the scientific community toward new horizons in quantum technologies and our understanding of the quantum universe.
