Princeton U. To Celebrate Nobel Laureate John Hopfield On Friday

PRINCETON, NJ – Nobel laureate Professor John Hopfield will be returning to campus and on Friday morning, the University will be celebrating him.

Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber and colleagues from across the University will raise a toast to Hopfield at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, at 9:30 a.m.

On Tuesday Hopfield was announced as a co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for for his work in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. He shares the prize with Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto.

Hopfield was in England when the announcement was made. Friday’s event marks the first opportunity for the Princeton community to celebrate in person with him.

Hopfield is the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences, Emeritus, and professor of molecular biology, emeritus. He holds associated faculty status in physics and neuroscience. He taught for 16 years as a professor of physics and helped establish the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Hopfield joins a number of other Princeton faculty and alumni who have been awarded Nobel Prizes.

This year’s prize amount is 11 million Swedish kroner, or about $1 million, which the laureates share.