12 Facts About Alan Lightman

Alan Paige Lightman was born on November 28,1948 and is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur.

Alan Lightman has served on the faculties of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT.

Alan Lightman's thinking and writing explore the intersection of the sciences and humanities, especially the multilogues among science, philosophy, religion, and spirituality.

Alan Lightman is a member of the United Nations' Scientific Advisory Board.

Alan Lightman is the author of the international bestseller Einstein's Dreams, and his novel The Diagnosis was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Alan Lightman is the founder of Harpswell, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance a new generation of women leaders in Southeast Asia.

Alan Lightman was born and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee.

Alan Lightman's father Richard Lightman was a movie theater owner and played a major role in desegregating movie theaters in the South in 1962.

Alan Lightman's mother Jeanne Garretson was a dance teacher and Braille typist.

At MIT, in the mid-1990s Alan Lightman chaired the committee that established the communication requirement for all undergraduates.

Alan Lightman is a past chair of the High Energy Division of the American Astronomical Society.

In 2003, Alan Lightman made his first trip to Southeast Asia, to Cambodia.