Joel Lebowitz facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joel Lebowitz
Lebowitz at Oberwolfach, 2004
Born	(1930-05-10) May 10, 1930 (age 95) Tiachiv, Czechoslovakia (now Ukraine)
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Brooklyn College Syracuse University
Known for	Statistical Physics Statistical mechanics
Awards	Boltzmann Medal (1992) Henri Poincaré Prize (2000) Max Planck Medal (2007) Grande Médaille (2014) Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics (2021) Dirac Medal (ICTP) (2022)
Scientific career
Institutions	Rutgers University Yeshiva University Stevens Institute of Technology Yale University
Thesis	Statistical Mechanics of Nonequilibrium Processes. (1956)
Doctoral advisor	Peter G. Bergmann
Other academic advisors	Lars Onsager
Doctoral students	Michael Aizenman Sheldon Goldstein
Other notable students	de:Detlef Dürr

Joel Lebowitz (left) and Mitchell Feigenbaum (right) in 1998

Joel Louis Lebowitz (born May 10, 1930) is a very important mathematical physicist. He is known for his amazing work in statistical physics and statistical mechanics. These fields help us understand how tiny particles behave and how they create the world around us.

Lebowitz has written over 500 scientific papers. He also helped start and edit the Journal of Statistical Physics. This is a major science magazine where researchers share their new discoveries. He even used to be the president of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Today, Lebowitz is a special professor of Mathematics and Physics at Rutgers University. He also cares a lot about human rights. He is a long-time co-chair of the Committee of Concerned Scientists. This group helps scientists around the world.

Biography

Joel Lebowitz was born in 1930 in a town called Taceva. This place was in Czechoslovakia back then, but it is now part of Ukraine. His family was Jewish.

During World War II, a very difficult time, he and his family faced great hardship. In 1944, he was sent to a camp called Auschwitz. Sadly, his father, mother, and younger sister were killed there. After being freed from the camp, he moved to the United States by boat.

In the U.S., he went to an Orthodox Jewish school and then Brooklyn College. He earned his PhD in 1956 from Syracuse University. After that, he continued his research with another famous scientist, Lars Onsager, at Yale University.

Lebowitz worked at several universities. He was at the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1957. Then he moved to Yeshiva University in 1959. Finally, in 1977, he joined Rutgers University. There, he holds a very special job called the George William Hill Professor.

While at Yeshiva and Rutgers, he met many other scientists and artists. In 1975, he started the Journal of Statistical Physics. In 1979, he became the president of the New York Academy of Sciences. He has also been a strong supporter of scientists who faced problems in the former Soviet Union.

Scientific Discoveries

Lebowitz has made many important discoveries in statistical mechanics and mathematical physics. He helped prove how Coulomb interactions (forces between charged particles) work on a large scale. He also developed rules called Lebowitz inequalities. These rules help us understand how magnets behave.

Currently, he is very interested in how systems behave when they are not in a perfect, balanced state. This is called non-equilibrium statistical mechanics.

He became the main editor of the Journal of Statistical Physics in 1975. This is one of the most important journals in his field. He held this position until 2018. Lebowitz also organizes special science meetings every two years. These meetings have been happening for 60 years! He also helps edit an important series of books called Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena.

Awards and Honors

Joel Lebowitz has received many special awards for his work. Some of these include:

• The Boltzmann Medal (1992)
• The Nicholson Medal (1994)
• The Delmer S. Fahrney Medal (1995)
• The Henri Poincaré Prize (2000)
• The Volterra Award (2001)
• The Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics (2021)
• The Dirac Medal (2022)

In 2007, he received the Max Planck Medal. This award was given to him for his important work in understanding how tiny particles behave. It also recognized him for helping new scientists get excited about this field. In 2014, he received the Grande Médaille from the French Academy of Sciences.

Lebowitz is also a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists in the U.S. He became a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1966. In 2012, he also became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

In 2012, Syracuse University gave him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. This was a special recognition of his achievements.