John Michael

Background

J. Michael Kosterlitz, a native of Aberdeen in Scotland, is the son of the biochemist Hans Walter Kosterlitz.

Career

He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at Cambridge University. In 1969 he earned a Doctorate.Phil. at Oxford University. After a few postdoctoral positions, including stays at the University of Birmingham, collaborating with David Thouless, and at Cornell University, he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Birmingham in 1974, first as a lecturer and, later, as a reader.

Since 1982, he is professor of physics at Brown University.

He does research in condensed matter theory, oneand two-dimensional physics. In phase transitions: random systems, electron localization, and spin glasses.

And in critical dynamics: melting and freezing. Since 1993, he is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Achievements

• Michael Kosterlitz was awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize from the British Institute of Physics in 1981,and the Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society in 2000, especially, for his work on the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.