Professor Gergely Zimanyi was born in Budapest, Hungary. He got his Ph.D. in Hungary in 1985 with high honors. He came to the USA as an IBM Postdoctoral Fellow at Stony Brook, in 1986. He came to the University of California, Davis, in 1989 as an Assistant Professor in the Physics Department and promotred to Professorship in 1997. Professor Zimanyi was recognized with the 2011 UC Davis Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching.
His research field is theoretical condensed matter physics. His contributions include the important problem of noise in quantum computers, high-temperature superconductivity, especially in strong magnetic fields, strong interactions in cold atom systems, the slow dynamics of several different types of glassy systems, and the physics of dislocations. His many contributions were recognized in 2012 by an election to be a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
His work also extends to technically relevant applications: he has participated in the development of magnets used in the electro motors of hybrid cars, and in the notable reduction of degradation of next-generation solar cells. He was also part of a team that invented a photovoltaic desalination system.
Professor Zimanyi was elected to become a member of the prestigious Hungarian Academy of Science in 2025.
Today he is being interviewed by his good friend and colleague, Distinguished Professor Daniel Cox.
