Dr. Koonin was a participant in Closer to Truth: 

Show 101, "What Are the Grand Questions of Science?" 
Show 207, "Why is Quantum Physics so Beautiful?”

Steven E. Koonin was born in Brooklyn, New York and educated at the California Institute of Technology, receiving a B.S. in physics in 1972, and at MIT, where he received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1975. He then joined the Caltech faculty in 1975, became full professor in 1981, serving as Chairman of the Faculty from 1989-1991. Professor Koonin currently holds the position of Vice President and Provost of the Institute.  Early in his career, he was a research fellow at the Niels Bohr Institute from 1976-77 and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow from 1977-79.  In 1975-76 he received the Caltech Associated Students Teaching Award, and the Humboldt Senior Scientist Award in 1985. In 1999 he received the prestigious E.O. Lawrence Award in Physics from the Department of Energy. Koonin has served on a number of advisory committees for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense and its various national laboratories. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research interests include theoretical nuclear, many-body, and computational physics, nuclear astrophysics, and global environmental science.

• American Physical Society (Fellow) • American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow) • American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow) • California Council on Science and Technology (Fellow) • APS Division of Nuclear Physics Program Committee, 1978–80 • APS DNP Committee for Contacts with the Press, 1980–82 • APS DNP Executive Committee, 1981–83 • APS Bonner Prize Committee, 1985 (Chair, 1986) • AAAS Nominating Committee, Physics Section, 1987–88 • APS Chair of the Division of Nuclear Physics, 1988–89 (Vice-Chair, 1987–88) • Steering Committee, APS Topical Group in Computational Physics, 1987–90 • APS DNP Councilor, 1992–96 • APS Executive Board, 1994–96

• LBL Bevalac Program Advisory Committee, 1979–82 • ORNL Physics Division Visiting Committee, 1979–83, 1993– • SURA Scientific Advisory Panel, 1981–82 • UC Berkeley Physics Special Visiting Committee, 1981 • MSU Cyclotron Program Advisory Committee, 1982–86 • BNL Physics and Accelerator Division Advisory Committee, 1983–85 • ANL Physics Division Advisory Committee, 1984–87 • Indiana University Cyclotron Facility Program Advisory Committee, 1985–89 • Associated Universities, Inc. Board of Trustees, 1985–88 • Advisory Board, NSF Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, 1986–90 (Chair, 1988) • Steering Committee, Maryland University Project on Physics and Educational Technology, 1986 • Allocation Committee, San Diego Supercomputer Center, 1986 • USC ad hoc Physics Review, 1988 • SLAC Nuclear Physics Program Advisory Committee, 1988–92 • DOE Institute for Nuclear Theory Advisory Committee (Chair, 1990–92) • MIT Physics Visiting Committee, 1989– • NSF ITP Director Search (Chair), 1993–94 • LLNL Laser and Environmental Division Advisory Board, 1993–95 • NORDITA Professor Selection Committee, 1994 • University of California President's Council for the National Laboratories, 1997– • University of California President’s Council NIF Review Committee, 1999

• Senior Referee, Physical Review Letters, 1981 • Coordinator, Nuclear Theory Program, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara, 1982 • Associate Editor, Nuclear Physics A, 1982–97 • Editorial Board, Physical Review C, 1983–86 • Vice-Chair, Nuclear Structure Gordon Conference, 1983 • Chair, Nuclear Structure Gordon Conference, 1984 • Editorial Committee, Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science 1989–94 • Editorial Board, International Journal of Modern Physics C, 1989– • Editorial Council, Annals of Physics, 1990–

• NUSAC Subcommittee for Heavy-Ion Facilities, 198l • NUSAC Subcommittee for Computational Needs of Nuclear Theory, 1981 • DOE Nuclear Theory Review, 1981 • DOE Heavy-Ion Users Review, 1982 • NUSAC Panel on Electron Accelerator Facilities, 1983 • NUSAC Long-Range Plan Working Group, 1983 • NAS Physics Survey Subpanel on Nuclear Physics, 1983–84 • NUSAC Subcommittee on the Scientific Justification for a 4 GeV CW Electron Accelerator, 1984 • NUSAC ad hoc Subcommittee for Computing, 1984 • NSF Physics Division Advisory Committee, 1985–88 • Institute for Defense Analysis, Defense Sciences Study Group, 1986–88 (Mentor, 1992–1999; Advisor 1999– ) • Committee of Examiners for the Graduate Record Exam, Educational Testing Service, 1986–89 • NUSAC Subcommittee for Nuclear Theory (Chair), 1987 • JASON Study Group, 1988– • DOE Advisory Panel on Cold Fusion, 1989 • NAS Second Review of Inertial Confinement Fusion (Chair), 1989–90 • NAS Panel on Basic Nuclear Data Compilation, 1989–90 • DSB Task Force on Strategic Sensors, 1990 • DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, 1990–92 • NRC Board on Physics and Astronomy, 1990–93 • SEAB Task Force on Energy Research Priorities, 1991–92 • DOE Hydrotest Program Assessment, 1991–92 • EPRI Review on Anomalous Nuclear Measurements in Deuterium/Metal Systems (Chair), 1991 • DOE Inertial Confinement Fusion Advisory Committee, 1992–95 • Defense Science Board, 1992–96 • Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, 1994–96 • NAS Committee for the Review of the DoE Inertial Confinement Fusion Program (Chair), 1996–97 • SEAB Task Force on Fusion Energy, 1998-99

George Green Prize for Creative Scholarship, Caltech, 1972

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1972–75

Associated Students of Caltech Teaching Award, 1975–76

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, 1977–81

Senior U.S. Scientist Award (Humboldt Prize) 1985–87

Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award, 1994

Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, 1998