Nationality British Name Clifford Johnson | ||
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Institutions University of Southern CaliforniaKavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraInstitute for Advanced StudyPrinceton University Fields Theoretical physics, Particle physics, Mathematical physics | ||
Notable awards Maxwell Medal and Prize | ||
Clifford Victor Johnson (born 5 March 1968 in London) is an English theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Southern California Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Biography
Johnson's research focus is in superstring theory and particle physics, specifically related to strongly coupled phenomena. He has previously worked at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University. He received the 2005 Maxwell Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics, "For his outstanding contribution to string theory, quantum gravity and its interface with strongly coupled field theory; in particular for his work on understanding the censorship of singularities, and the thermodynamic properties, of quantum spacetime." He received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 1997. In 2005, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education listed Clifford Johnson as the most highly cited black professor of mathematics or a related field at an American university or college.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Imperial College London in 1989 and he completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Southampton in 1992.
He also actively works to promote science in the public and physics outreach. As part of this effort, he regularly appears on the History Channel series The Universe and acts as a science consultant for the Discovery Channel. Johnson founded the African Summer Theory Institute, "which brings teachers, researchers, and students of all levels together for a month-long conference on a science topic—a different one every year—to discuss, to network, and, of course, to learn."