Kip Stephen Thorne

Kip S. Thorne is the Richard P. Feynman Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology. Member, National Academy of Sciences; Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences. Thorne's research has focused on gravitation physics and astrophysics, with emphasis on relativistic stars, black holes and gravitational waves. In the late 1960's and early 70's he laid the foundations for the theory of pulsations of relativistic stars and the gravitational waves they emit. During the 70's and 80's he developed mathematical formalism by which astrophysicists analyze the generation of gravitational waves and worked closely with Vladimir Braginsky, Ronald Drever and Rainer Weiss on developing new technical ideas and plans for gravitational wave detection. He is a co-founder (with Weiss and Drever) of the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) Project and he chaired the steering committee that led LIGO in its earliest years (1984--87). In the 1980s, 90s and 2000s he and his research group provided theoretical support for LIGO, including identifying gravitational wave sources that LIGO should target, laying foundations for data analysis techniques by which their waves are being sought, designing the baffles to control scattered light in the LIGO beam tubes, and --- in collaboration with Vladimir Braginsky's (Moscow Russia) research group --- inventing quantum-nondemolition designs for advanced gravity-wave detectors. Thorne has received honorary doctorates from Moscow State University, the Claremont Graduate School, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Chicago, among others.