Francois Englert Biography and Timeline

Birth

Is born in Etterbeek, Belgium, into a Jewish family.

Wartime Childhood

Spends part of the German occupation concealed in orphanages to hide his Jewish identity and survive Nazi persecution.

Role range: 1940-1945

Engineering Degree

Graduates from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles as a civil electrical-mechanical engineer.

Academic Appointment

Begins work as an assistant at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles while continuing advanced study in physics.

Role range: 1956-1959

Physics Degree

Completes a degree in physical sciences at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

Cornell Research

Moves to Cornell University as a research associate and begins a close scientific collaboration with Robert Brout.

Role range: 1959-1960

Doctorate

Receives a doctorate in physical sciences from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

Cornell Appointment

Becomes an assistant professor at Cornell University after his initial research-associate appointment.

Role range: 1960-1961

Return to Brussels

Returns to the Universite Libre de Bruxelles as a lecturer, continuing his collaboration with Robert Brout.

Role range: 1961-1964

Broken Symmetry Paper

Publishes a spontaneous-symmetry-breaking mechanism with Robert Brout.

Englert-Brout Mechanism

Explains how gauge particles can acquire mass through a scalar field.

Higgs Boson

Publishes with Robert Brout the first 1964 gauge-symmetry paper establishing a mechanism by which gauge vector bosons can acquire mass.

Higgs Field

The Higgs mechanism, which gives mass to vector bosons, is theorized in 1964 by Francois Englert and Robert Brout ("boson scalaire")

Professorship

Becomes a professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in the year of his landmark symmetry-breaking work.

Full Professorship

Holds the rank of ordinary professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

Gravity Research Award

Shares first prize in the Gravity Research Foundation essay competition for The Causal Universe with Robert Brout and Edgard Gunzig.

Theoretical Physics Group

Begins co-directing the theoretical physics group at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles with Robert Brout.

Role range: 1980-1998

Francqui Prize

Receives the Francqui Prize for major contributions including spontaneous symmetry breaking, quantum field theory, statistical physics, relativity and cosmology.

European Physics Prize

Shares the European Physical Society High Energy and Particle Physics Prize with Robert Brout and Peter Higgs.

Professor Emeritus

Becomes professor emeritus at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles after decades of teaching and research.

Higgs Boson

Shares the Wolf Prize in Physics with Robert Brout and Peter Higgs for pioneering work on mass generation through broken gauge symmetry.

Higgs Boson

Shares the J. J. Sakurai Prize with five other theorists for elucidating spontaneous symmetry breaking and consistent vector-boson mass generation.

Chapman University

Joins Chapman University's Institute for Quantum Studies as a distinguished visiting professor and founding member.

Baron

Is elevated to the rank of baron by King Albert II of Belgium in recognition of his scientific achievements.

Higgs Mechanism Recognition

Receives recognition for the mechanism developed with Robert Brout.

Nobel Prize in Physics

Shares the physics prize for the theory of particle mass generation.

Higgs Boson

Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics after CERN measurements confirm a particle associated with the symmetry-breaking mechanism proposed in 1964.

Prince of Asturias Award

Shares the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research with Peter Higgs and CERN.

Death

Dies in Uccle at the age of ninety-three after a career spanning particle physics, cosmology and quantum field theory.