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.
Sean:
Many congratulations. It sounds like you’ve found a perfect academic home. Your commitment to being neither fish nor fowl has paid off. More congratulations for sticking to your guns. And thanks for sticking with the lay science books and podcasts. They’ve been a perfect fit for my interests in theoretical physics and the neuroscience of consciousness and basic enough for my limited mathematics understanding .
Welcome back to the East Coast! Congratulations, this sounds like an absolutely perfect role for you. I can think of no one more qualified or deserving of such a position.
I hope , with a new mandate and the appointment at the John’s Hopkins, you continue to delight us , with fresh perspectives on intersections on physics, maths, information, and epistemology/philosophy– which was always a Multi World to begin with 😉
Eagerly looking forward,
Afzal
Great! So happy for you. You deserve it. I know you will have much happiness and success in your new position. I’m sure many postdocs and graduate students will come knocking on your door and that your classes will be very popular.
It’s the best of all possible worlds. You will continue to dumb down for me, through your podcast, the frontiers of your research and genius. And you will be happy and fulfilled in a new position while doing it. What could be better. Thank you for everything you do. I am a better, more informed person for it.
Congratulations. Please keep doing your Podcast though.
Big time congratulations. (No, we’ve never met, except through The Big Picture, but I have great appreciation for that book and admiration for you.)
Congratulations. Well deserved. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your YouTube lectures and online scribblings. I’m still working on trying to understand (!?!) quantum mechanics before I die and you’ve certainly been helpful with that.
Bon Voyage.
Congratulations Sean. JHU are lucky to have you. Fabulous that your multidisciplinary talents will be fully utilised. I hope you, Jennifer, Ariel & Caliban enjoy your new home.
Best wishes
Sounds like a perfect fit! Congratulations from DownUnder…
Congratulations! Future sibight you have to wear shades!
The Applied Physics Lab is way out in the boondocks, but it may be worth a quick trip.
Congratulations. Really looking forward to hearing you on Complexity and Emergence in general (or “just”space-time)?
Keep at it, your lectures on Youtube took me back to my days of RG, QFT, Bjorken and Drell, M G-M and all the rest. Oh yes and someone’s three-volume lecture series!
Good luck!
Congratulations and good wishes. It sounds like the position and you were made for each other. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to continue to pursue the things that excited your passions from your youth. May it carry you far.
Parabéns por essa nova aventura, esse novo desafio, Sean Carroll.
Tudo de bom para si e Jennifer.
Ótimo quando se faz o que se gosta!
Aposto que as suas aulas de Filosofia serão motivadoras, muito interessantes.
Mazel tov! What a perfect setup for you. It couldn’t happen to a nicer or more deserving guy. I know you’ll make the most of it. I wish you many happy and fulfilling years at JH.
Welcome back to the East Coast, and good luck house hunting!
Great news, Sean! Well-deserved.
Congratulations! Excited to see what all will come from your new adventure!
Many congratulations on this new appointment. I will be waiting for new lectures and writing on both Philosophy and Physics. I have learned from your books and online lectures .
Congratulations!! Now we just need to get you over to give a talk at the JHU Applied Physics Lab (APL) where I work!
Welcome to Baltimore!
Physics of Democracy?
I can certainly agree our understanding of political processes seems to lack the serious grounding it should have in both physics and biology, but it does seem like quite the outlier in your resume.
Congrats Sean!
My first comment since the Chicago days… a fitting occasion!
Wow, fantastic. Many congrats to you! Lucky them to have you, and lucky us that you’ll still be podcasting and blogging!
How wonderful! Congratulations!
As a JHU alum and member of its A&S Dean’s Advisory Board, I am delighted. Your writings and interviews on science programs have engaged me for over a decade, and we are lucky to gain your mind and energy.
Rob Friedman
Congratulations that is wonderful