Robbert Dijkgraaf, a distinguished mathematical physicist who has made significant contributions to string theory and the advancement of science education, has been appointed Director of the Institute for Advanced Study with effect from July 1, 2012.
Dijkgraaf, currently President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Distinguished University Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Amsterdam, will succeed Peter Goddard, who has served as Director since January 2004. Dijkgraaf will be the ninth Director of the Institute, an independent, academic institution that is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. Founded in 1930 in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute exists to encourage and support fundamental research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative, thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world.
Robbert Dijkgraaf on his appointment in DWDD: