Johns Hopkins

As far as I remember, the first time I stepped onto a university campus was in junior high school, when I visited Johns Hopkins for an awards ceremony for the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. (I grew up in an environment that didn’t involve spending a lot of time on college campuses, generally speaking.) The SMPY is a longitudinal study that looks for kids who do well on standardized math tests, encourages them to take the SATs at a very young age, and follows the progress of those who do really well. I scored as “pretty precocious” but “not precocious enough to be worth following up.” Can’t really argue. My award was a slim volume on analytic geometry, which — well, the thought was nice.

But the campus made an impression. It was elegant and evocative in a way that was new to me and thoroughly compelling. Grand architecture, buildings stuffed with books and laboratories, broad green commons criss-crossed by students and professors talking about ideas. (I presumed that was what they were talking about). Magical. I was already committed to the aspiration that I would go to university, get a Ph.D., and become a theoretical physicist, although I had very little specific concept of what that entailed. Soaking in the campus atmosphere redoubled my conviction that this was the right path for me.

So it is pretty special to me to announce that I am going to become a professor at Hopkins. This summer Jennifer and I will move from Los Angeles to Baltimore, and I will take up a position as Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy. (She will continue writing about science and culture at Ars Technica, which she can do from any geographic location.)

The title requires some explanation. Homewood Professors are a special category at Hopkins. There aren’t many of them. Some are traditional academics like famous cosmologist Joseph Silk; others are not traditional academics, like former Senator Barbara Mikulski, musician Thomas Dolby, or former UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion. The official documentation states that a Homewood Professor should be “a person of high scholarly, professional, or artistic distinction whose appointment brings luster to the University.” (You see why I waited to announce until my appointment was completely official, so nobody could write in objecting that I don’t qualify. Too late!)

It’s a real, permanent faculty job — teaching, students, grant proposals, the whole nine yards. Homewood Professors are not tenured, but in some sense it’s better — the position floats freely above any specific department lines, so administrative/committee obligations are minimized. (They told me they could think about a tenure process if I insisted. Part of me wanted to, for purely symbolic reasons. But once all the ins and outs were explained, I decided not to bother.)

In practice, my time will be split between the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Philosophy. I will have offices in both places, and teach roughly one course/year in each department. The current plan is for me to teach two classes this fall: a first-year seminar on the Physics of Democracy, and an upper-level seminar on Topics in the Philosophy of Physics. (The latter will probably touch on the arrow of time, philosophy of cosmology, and the foundations of quantum mechanics, but all is subject to change.) And of course I’ll be supervising grad students and eventually hiring postdocs in both departments — let me know if you’re interested in applying!

You’ll note that both departments have recently been named after William Miller. That’s because Bill Miller, who was a graduate student in philosophy at Hopkins and became a successful investment banker, has made generous donations both to philosophy and to physics. (He’s also donated to, and served as board chair for, the Santa Fe Institute, where I will continue to be Fractal Faculty — our interests have considerable overlap!) Both departments are already very high-quality; physics and astronomy includes friends and colleagues like Adam Riess, Marc Kamionkowski, and David Kaplan, not to mention benefitting from association with the Space Telescope Science Institute. But these gifts will allow us to grow in substantial ways, which makes for a very exciting time.

One benefit of being a Homewood Professor is that you get to choose what you will be designated a professor “of.” I asked that it be Natural Philosophy, harkening back to the days before science and philosophy split into distinct disciplines. (Resisted the temptation to go with a Latin version.) This is what makes this opportunity so special. I’ve always been interdisciplinary, between physics and philosophy and other things, and also always had an interest in reaching out to wider audiences. But there was inevitably tension with what I was supposed to be doing as a theoretical physicist and cosmologist. My predilections don’t fit comfortably with the academic insistence on putting everyone into a silo and encouraging them to stay there.

Now, for the first time in my life, all that stuff I want to do will be my job, rather than merely tolerated. (Or not tolerated, as the case may be.) The folks at JHU want me to build connections between different departments, and they very much want me to both keep up with the academic work, and with the podcasts and books and all that. Since that’s exactly what I want to do myself, it’s a uniquely good fit.

I’ve had a great time at Caltech, and have nothing bad to say about it. I have enormous fondness for my colleagues and especially for the many brilliant students and postdocs who I’ve been privileged to interact with along the way. But a new adventure awaits, and I can’t wait to dive in. I have a long list of ideas I want to pursue in cosmology, quantum mechanics, complexity, statistical mechanics, emergence, information, democracy, origin of life, and elsewhere. Maybe we’ll start up a seminar series in Complexity and Emergence that brings different people together. Maybe it will grow into a Center of some kind. Maybe I’ll write academic papers on moral philosophy! Who knows? It’s all allowed. Can’t ask for more than that.

92 Comments

92 thoughts on “Johns Hopkins”

  1. Fantastic opportunity to widen students’ minds – and develop new ways of thinking about physics and philosophy – they couldn’t have selected a better “fit”, in my opinion. And I think it is GREAT to be “re-potted” from time to time as well. I am sure you will be highly stimulated. All good luck to you both in your new home —

  2. I am thrilled for you. You don’t know me from Adam, but you have played a profoundly important role in my life and I am deeply grateful for your teaching. Lucky students and lucky you. Having the freedom to carve a new path and extend connections across multiple disciplines is what learning, living and teaching are all about. Have a wonderful time.

  3. Ray Gedaly (aka Ray Gunn from my radio DJ days)

    Congrats! This sounds perfect for you. Johns Hopkins is fortunate to have snagged you. Maybe you’ll have lots more time for science blogging.

    Great also that Jennifer has the freedom to write from anywhere. (My wife and I occasionally cross paths with Eric Berger who enjoys this same freedom at Ars Technica.)

  4. I am so glad to hear all this.
    I have needed you for more years than I have known about you.
    Now it seems the number of folks who need you will have an enhanced opportunity to find you.
    Thanks for all you have given me – although there is no reason for you to know me

  5. JULIAN HUGHSON

    I hope you will venture a ccross the ocean to continue your lectures at the Royal Institutuon. You have done a great job of presenting your many lectures in an understandable and thoroughly informative way to those of us who have a great interst in quantum mechanics, relativity, particle physics and the like but are lacking in the foundational Mathematics. You have an excellent way of getting around this gelling with your audience. and have a great following.
    Goodluck.
    Julian Hughson.

  6. Congratulations. I have an extremely small connection to Johns Hopkins. I was working in Baltimore in an extremely boring consulting actuary job (after getting physics, mathematics, and law degrees). One day I decided to take an extremely long lunch (as I was prone to do) and visited the Johns Hopkins bookstore. I stumbled across a recently published book by Chris Quigg (and republished 40 years later) Gauge Theories of the Strong, Weak, and Electromagnetic Interactions.

    I was amazed that I was able to understand the book, and found the material fascinating. A couple of months later there was a New York Times section listing rankings of all graduate programs in the U.S. Caltech and Harvard tied for first, and somewhere it was mentioned (or I found out) that Caltech had no application fee. So I applied to one school and was accepted in the the Phd. program in physics at Caltech.

    I had a great time at Caltech 1984-1986, I remember taking courses by Preskill, Feynman, Gell-Mann, Thorne, Blandford, and Politzer, and others. Unfortunately I wasn’t all in on an academic career, and Professor Zachariasen taught QFT from Bjorken and Drell at the speed of light and lost me in the renormalization chapter. I ended up dropping out after 2 years (they did give me a rare Caltech Masters degree in Physics), and became a professional poker player.

    I wish I had stayed in physics, and as a retired poker player, I spend most of my time now reading graduate level books that I should have mastered at Caltech. I always mention your Spacetime and Geometry for students who ask me for a recommended book on GR.

    Has the bidding started for Feynman’s old office?

  7. William Courtney

    Holy mackerel!! Nice going, Sean. But you might miss the Pasadena weather. Best of luck

  8. Congrats, Sean! I know it’s been a bit of a slog to get to this point, but I’m glad you’ve gotten this opportunity, finally. And I’m extra glad to see you and Jennifer back on this side of the country!

  9. Helena Mariposa

    Thank you for sharing this exciting news. In times like this, It is extremely gratifying to know that there are still arenas in which there is growth and progress. Your being given a position, with so much potential, at Johns Hopkins is such an arena.
    Congratulations!

  10. The Rev. Denis M. O’Pray

    Bravo! Finally a square hole into which the square peg fits perfectly. Though we each stand comfortably on opposite sides of the God question, our flinty curiosity has taken us to that nexus point beyond traditional religion and science where wonder dwells. I am grateful that your writing has so encouraged and guided my spiritual and intellectual journey.

  11. Congratulations, I have always considered it a big disgrace on the part of academia to not consider people like you part of its canon, and glad to see it making amends and maybe realizing that you have a genuine, positive role to play, and ought to be patronized instead of being victimized. Keep up the good work.

  12. Congratulations! I was 16 when I started to listen to your podcasts and watch your lectures on youtube. You inspired me to become a theoretical physicist, and I’m now 18 applying to Caltech. Not that I would be accepted, but I wanted to have a chance to see you in person. However, I regret not applying to Johns Hopkins University now! Anyways, I hope the best for you and your family at Johns Hopkins University and maybe one day I will get to meet you in person!

  13. Congratulations. It is nice to see the term Natural Philosophy put on you. Maybe you can give the term the new life it deserves. Actually, I think you can. Best wishes.

  14. Thank you for your wonderful email update. Wishing you all the very best and success at Hopkins and Jennifer on her continued success at Ars Techica. I cannot thank you enough for “The Biggest Ideas in the Universe.” Watching it, and re-watching, and re-re-watching it was incredibly helpful during the pandemic shutdown, even if it remains well above my paygrade as a lapsed chemist (BS 1972.)

  15. You have selected my hometown and my wife’s graduate institution (M.S. Education).
    There are many wonderful things to do in Maryland, including visiting the museums and monuments in DC, dining in fox country, and strolling the storied streets of Annapolis. And perhaps of a foggy evening, glimpsing the ghost of Poe skulking the streets of Baltimore… Enjoy your time at a great institution!

  16. This couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. Congratulations! Now, while in the pursuit of all those academic endeavors, please don’t forget those of us who have benefited so much from your insight and instruction. Even though many of us will never set foot on a college campus, we have gained a better understanding of the world around us. We have you to thank for that.

  17. What an absolutely perfect fit for you and your interests! Huge congratulations! 🎉 It’s also perfect that Jennifer’s job allows her the freedom to work wherever she wants and therefore can be with you no matter where you venture (my husband and I have the same set-up). And, yeah, universities should have more cross-disciplinary positions and less strictly enforced categories.

  18. That’s great Shawn. Congrats. The compromises you have to make to be an Ordained Academic are sometimes not worth the cost. I think now we are seeing a declining Academia in terms of freedom, inquiry, and rigor. It’s also a business that hires too many bloated do-nothing Administrators while reducing the number of tenured Professors for cheaper adjunct roles. It’s a sad state I think in my very humble slightly informed opinion.

  19. Congratulations! Couldn’t happen to a more deserving person. Being paid to do what you would pay to do, is as good as it gets! You, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Epictetus are my heroes.

  20. Bob Cunningham

    Congrats! So glad you’ve found an academic “home”.

    So sad you’re leaving. I’ve been wandering behind both you and Jennifer for well over a decade now and have greatly enjoyed the too-few times our paths have crossed (sadly, cocktail-free).

    To usher you on your way, I’ll share the words of someone far more famous than I: “To Infinity, and Beyond!”

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