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John Hopfield poses with former students Gayle Wittenberg (left), a 2003 Ph.D. graduate alumna, now a VP at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; and Maria Geffen of the Class of 2001, now on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.
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“Thank you for giving us this special occasion to celebrate curiosity-driven research, to celebrate pathbreaking scientific discovery, and to celebrate the community of neuroscientists, physicists, molecular biologists and chemists at Princeton.” — Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber
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Princeton leaders, faculty, students and staff give Hopfield a standing ovation as he rises to speak during the event in the atrium at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.
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"John taught us ... what might outwardly seem like a jumble of different topics was really all one thing, science. It was exciting. It was thrilling. It was empowering. It was very challenging, [and] it was super fun." —Professor Carlos Brody, Hopfield's former graduate student
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Hopfield poses with Zijian Jiang, a second-year graduate student in neuroscience. Hopfield greeted a long line of eager well-wishers following the celebration, posing for selfies, exchanging handshakes and even signing autographs.
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“The Princeton Neuroscience Institute was grounded on John’s interdisciplinary approaches to advancing our understanding of neuroscience by combining biology, physics and technology development.” — Jean Schwarzbauer, associate chair, Department of Molecular Biology
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Graduate student Eva Xie asks Hopfield to sign a copy of one of his academic papers, which span eight decades — from the 1950s to the 2020s.
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“John’s curiosity led him to major breakthroughs — upon which technology that has revolutionized the world has been built — but his motivation was to find a hard, scientific problem and uncover its solution.” — Mala Murthy, director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute
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Faculty speakers included (left to right): Carlos Brody, Wilbur H. Gantz III ’59 Professor of Neuroscience; James Olsen, Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and chair of the physics department; Jean Schwarzbauer, Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular Biology and associate chair of the molecular biology department; and David Tank, Henry L. Hillman Professor of Neuroscience.
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Hopfield talks with Jim Peebles (right), the 2019 Nobel laureate in physics and Princeton’s Albert Einstein Professor of Science, Emeritus. Hopfield and Peebles both joined the Princeton physics faculty in the early 1960s.
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Current and former students from departments across the campus gather in the sunny atrium of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute to celebrate Hopfield, sitting between his wife, Mary Waltham (left), and Princeton Provost Jennifer Rexford (right).
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Hopfield concluded his remarks with a big smile, telling the audience, "... On this happy day, I shout, ‘Thank you for coming, everybody!'”
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“Experts are good at answering questions. If you are brash enough, ask your own. Don't worry too much about how you found them.” — John Hopfield in his 2018 essay "Now What?"
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“Having not only one, not two, but three academic communities come together to celebrate this well-deserved honor underscores John’s broad impact on science and Princeton.” — James Olsen, chair, Department of Physics
Celebrating a Nobel born of curiosity
On Friday, Oct. 11, John Hopfield, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, was celebrated by colleagues, friends and students at a ceremony in the atrium of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Hopfield is Princeton's Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences, Emeritus, and professor of molecular biology, emeritus. He holds associated faculty status in physics and neuroscience.
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