University Paris South, France
Albert Fert is currently a professor at the University of Paris (South), scientific director of the Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique (cooperation with the Thales Group) and adjunct professor at Michigan State University. He was born in 1938 and studied Physics at École Normale Supérieure in Paris and graduated in 1962. In 1963 he received his Master degree from the University of Paris and received his PhD in 1970 at the University of Paris South.
Together with Prof. Peter Grünberg Prof. Fert discovered giant magnetoresistance (GMR) which is a breakthrough in gigabyte hard disks and a milestone in solid state Physics as well as in information technology. The discovery of GMR opened a new avenue of research with a high potential for applications, called spintronics.
Prof. Fert received the Gutenberg Lecture Award and the honorary doctorate of the Department of Physics of the University of Kaiserslautern on October 23, 2006 at the University of Kaiserslautern.
In 2007 he received the renown Japan Award (300.000 Euro) together with Prof. Grünberg for their discovery of GMR. Later that year they also received the Nobel prize for Physics. Prof. Felser, director of MAINZ, said: “We are honoured that 2 recipients of Nobel prizes, Albert Fert und Jean-Marie Lehn, are also recipients of Gutenberg Awards”.
