Nobel winner Higgs plans to retire next year

Nobel winner Higgs plans to retire next year
In this Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 file photo, Britain's Professor Peter Higgs gestures during a press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Nobel Prize winning scientist Peter Higgs told the BBC on Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013, that he is hoping to retire next year at the age of 85. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Peter Higgs says he is hoping to fully retire next year at the age of 85—and that he once turned down a knighthood.

Last week, Higgs won the Nobel Prize in physics with Francois Englert for helping explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.

He retired from teaching 17 years ago but is a professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and also travels internationally to deliver lectures.

He told the BBC on Tuesday that he is "proposing" to retire "properly" next year.

Higgs also revealed that he turned down the offer of a knighthood from then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1999 because he thought "anything of that sort was premature" and because he didn't want "any sort of title."

© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Nobel winner Higgs plans to retire next year (2013, October 15) retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2013-10-nobel-winner-higgs-year.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Belgian Nobel laureate Englert lauds late colleague Brout

0 shares

Feedback to editors