Rob Myers graduated in Physics at Waterloo in 1982. Unknown to him at the time was the journey that would bring him touring the best academic institutions around the world and that he would be brought back to Waterloo in 2001 as founding member of the Perimeter Institute. Rob is a global leader in theoretical physics. He has made seminal contributions to efforts to explain the deep apparent contradictions between the two pillars of modern physics --- Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which describes the dynamics and structures of the very large, and quantum mechanics, which dominates the very small --- both of which present theoretical frameworks that have been exquisitely tested in their respective regimes. Since the discovery of “Hawking radiation”, the putative quantum mechanical thermal emissions from black holes, it has become clear that black holes are a natural place to look for a resolution.
Rob has pioneered the study of black holes within the broad context motivated by string theory. Among his landmark contributions are the discovery of the first higher-dimensional rotating black hole solution (now known as the Myers-Perry metric); key progress on understanding the statistical interpretation of black hole entropy; a string theory analog of the dielectric effect – the “Myers effect” – with applications to many phenomena in string theory, ranging from the resolution of singularities in general relativity to holography and the meaning of space-time itself; and most recently, the relationship between quantum entanglement and space-time, which Myers played a role in initiating and remains a world leader. Myers has also forged connections between theory and experiment, from cosmology to particle collider experiments and recently condensed matter phenomenology.
At the same time, Rob has been instrumental in the development of a world-leading theoretical physics community within Canada generally and Waterloo specifically, most visibly through his leadership at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Since Perimeter’s inception, Myers has shaped every aspect of Perimeter’s development ‒ from the selection of research foci right down to the design of its building. He has served as Perimeter’s interim Scientific Director, and, in 2011, was elected to Faculty Chair.
Myers has been repeatedly recognized for his research excellence and contributions to the physics community. For the past four consecutive years (2014--2017), Myers has been named among the “world’s most influential scientific minds” by Thompson Reuters, the only Canadian listed in those years, and the only physicist worldwide to be named in each of the past four years. He has been awarded the QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal, the 2012 CAP Vogt Medal, the 2005 CAP-CRM Prize in mathematical and theoretical physics, the 1999 CAP Herzberg Medal, and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2006. He has supervised over 130 postdocs, PhD, and master’s students over his career; 43 now hold faculty positions around the world, including at Princeton, Cambridge, and Oxford.
