2006 – Copley Medal
2009 – Presidential Medal Of Freedom
2012 – Special Fundamental Physics Prize

Stephen William Hawking is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His key exploration is in the areas of theoretical cosmology, focusing on the evolution of the universe as governed by the laws of general relativity. He is most known for his work in the study of black holes. With the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, a theory called ‘Hawking radiation’, he became the first to set forth a cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Hawking suffers from a rare and life-threatening condition of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a condition he has suffered for all of his adult life. It started when he was only 21 years old while he was pursuing PhD from Cambridge University and now is almost completely paralyzed and communicates through a speech generating device. But not succumbing to the despair of the disease, Hawking devoted all of his life to his work and research. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for around three decades and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. For his contribution to the study of universe and his pioneering work in cosmology, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Childhood & Early Life

• • Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England, to Frank and Isobel Hawking. His father was a medical researcher. He belonged to a family of well read people – his mother was one of the first female students who graduated from the Oxford.

  • Hawking was born when his family as well as the whole nation was going through a financial crunch because of the ongoing WW II. He was the eldest out of the four children.

  • His father became the head of the Division of Parasitology at the National Institute of Medical Research and went to Africa for research – he aspired for him to become a doctor but Hawking showed more interest in astronomy.

  • He attended St Albans School but he was never a conventionally brilliant student, rather he was more interested in what happened outside the classroom, and spent his time and energy in inventing new things.

  • Later, against his father’s wishes, he made plans to pursue mathematics as his major but it was not the subject that was taught in Oxford University at the time so he had to take up physics and chemistry instead.

• He still did not pay too much attention to the bookish studies and spent his time devising innovative techniques. In 1962, he graduated with honors, and went on to attend the University of Cambridge for a Ph.D. in cosmology.

• During his first year, Hawking started to show abnormal physical symptoms; he would suddenly trip and fall or his speech slurred. He suppressed these symptoms but when his father noticed them, he was sent for a series of tests.

• It was diagnosed that he was in the early stages of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which meant that the part of his nervous system that was responsible for muscle control was shutting down—a life threatening condition.

• With this new found realization of the suddenness of death and the fact that according to the doctors he only had another two years to live, Hawking started concentrating fully on his research work.