Biography
Robertus Henricus Dijkgraaf was born on 24 January 1960 in Ridderkerk, Netherlands. He lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dijkgraaf is married to the author Pia de Jong and has three children."Robbert Dijkgraaf long biography". Robbert Dijkgraaf. http://robbertdijkgraaf.com/html/EN-B2.html. Retrieved 3-6-2012.
Dijkgraaf started his education in physics at Utrecht University in 1978. After completing his Bachelor's degree equivalent in 1982 he briefly turned away from physics to pursue painting at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. In 1984, he returned to Utrecht University, to start on his master's degree in theoretical physics. After obtaining his MSc degree, he continued working towards his PhD under supervision of Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft. He studied together with the twins Erik and Herman Verlinde. The original arrangement was that only one of the trio would work on string theory, but all three ended up writing their thesis on this subject. Dijkgraaf obtained his doctorate in 1989 cum laude.Subsequently, Dijkgraaf held positions at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1992, he was appointed professor at the University of Amsterdam, where he held the chair of mathematical physics until 2004, when he was appointed distinguished professor at the university.
In the Netherlands, Dijkgraaf is a promoter of hard sciences. He appears on Dutch national television and has a (monthly) column in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. Since May 1, 2008 he is president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science. He is elected as one of the two co-chairs of the InterAcademy Council for the period 2009-2013.
Starting July 1, 2012 Dijkgraaf became the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. On that date he stepped down from his position as president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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