| Education | |
| 8/75 - 2/76 | Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, Cambridge, England |
| 8/76 - 5/79 | Undergraduate studies at King's College, Cambridge University, England |
| 5/1979 | Bachelor of Arts (honors) in Natural Sciences, Cambridge University |
| 1/1983 | Master of Arts, Cambridge University |
| 8/79 - 6/83 | Graduate studies in the Physics Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 5/1983 | Doctor of Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| Doctoral Thesis with Professor A. N. Berker, entitled: "Ordering phenomena under competing interactions in adsorbed layers and in spin models" | |
| Activities | |
| Summer 77 | Research Assistant, Department of Metallurgy, University of Technology, Tehran, Iran |
| Fall 1979 | Teaching Assistant, Introductory Mechanics, MIT |
| 1980 - 83 | Research Assistant, Condensed Matter Theory, MIT |
| Spring 81 | Teaching Assistant, Graduate Statistical Mechanics, MIT |
| 1983 - 86 | Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows |
| 1983 - 86 | Summer Visiting Research Collaborator, Brookhaven National Laboratories |
| 1986 - 90 | Assistant Professor of Physics, MIT |
| Summer 89 | Visiting Professor, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium |
| Fall 89,6/92 | Visitor, Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara |
| 1990 - 95 | Associate Professor of Physics, MIT (with tenure in 1992) |
| Summer 90 | Visiting Research Collaborator, IBM Research Labs., Almaden |
| May 92 | Guest Lecturer, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran |
| May 93 | Lecturer, École de Physique de Matiére Condensée, Beg-Rohu, France |
| June 93 | Chairman, Gordon Research Conference |
| Aug 93/95/96 | Lecturer, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran |
| 1995 - | Adjunct Professor, IASBS, Zanjan, Iran |
| 1994-96 | Editorial Board, Journal of Statistical Physics |
| Winter 94 | Visiting Professor, Oxford University, England |
| June 94 | Lecturer, NATO meeting at the Newton Institute, Cambridge, England |
| Aug 94 | Lecturer, Les Houches meeting, France |
| Fall 94 | Organizer, ITP workshop on "Vortex Phases," UC Santa Barbara |
| 1996 | Professor of Physics, MIT |
| Summer 96 | Lecturer, Troisième cycle de la physique en Suisse romande, Lusaunne, Switzerland |
| August 97 | Lecturer, International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy |
| August 97 | Lecturer, Summerschool on Fundamental Problems in Stat. Mech., Altenberg, Germany |
| 97- | Board Member of New England Complex Science Institute |
| 99-00, 03- | Chairman, Pappalardo Fellowships in Physics at MIT |
| 2001, 2009 | General visiting member, Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara |
| Spring 02 | Miller Visiting Professor, UC Berkeley |
| Aug 03 | Lecturer, The 14th Jyväskylä Summer School, Finland |
| July 07 | Invited Professor, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France |
| Fall 08 | Organizer, KITP workshop on "Fluctuation-induced forces," UC Santa Barbara |
| Fall 09 | Organizer, 60th Birthday Celebration Symposium for Prof. A.N. Berker, MIT |
| May 13 | Lecturer, IITS Course in Theoretical Physics, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium |
| June 13 | Invited visiting Professor, LPTMS, Univ. Paris Sud, Orsay, France |
| July/Aug. 13 | International Francqui Professor Chair, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium |
| 2015-18 | Divisional Associate Editor, Phys. Rev. E |
| 2017- | Associate Editor, JStat |
| 2020- | Editorial Board, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences |
| Fall 22 | Alexander von Humboldt visitor to MPI-DS and Georg-August Univ. of Göttingen |
| Awards | |
| 1976 - 78 | Exhibition - Senior Scholarship at King's College, Cambridge University |
| 1978 - 79 | Prizes based on performance in undergraduate (Tripos) exams |
| 1981 - 82 | IBM Predoctoral Fellowship |
| 1983 - 86 | Junior Fellowship, Harvard Society of Fellows |
| 1987 - 91 | A. P. Sloan Fellowship |
| 1988 - | Fellow of Ashdown House (Graduate Dormitory), MIT |
| 1988 | Bergmann Memorial Research Award |
| 1989 - | Presidential Young Investigator Award |
| 1990 | Graduate Student Departmental Teaching Award |
| 1990 -92 | MIT Class of 1948 Professor (Career Development Chair) |
| 1991 | Edgerton Award for Junior Faculty Achievements at MIT |
| 1992 | The Beuchner Teaching Prize, Physics Department |
| 1993 | School of Science Prize in Graduate Teaching |
| 2001 | John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship |
| 2007 | Fellow, American Physical Society |
| 2008 | School of Science Prize in Graduate Teaching |
| 2009 | APS Outstanding Referee |
| 2009 | Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 2011- | Francis Freidman Professor, Physics Department, MIT |
| 2013 | International Francqui Professor Chair, Belgium |
| 2014 | KITP Simons Distinguished Visiting Scholar |
| 2015 | Mark Kac Memorial Scholar, CNLS, Los Alamos |
| 2017 | John David Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Education Award |
| 2018 | Elected member of the National Academy of Sciences |
| 2019 | Ellis Island Medal of Honor |
| 2019 | Simons-GGI Visiting scientist for 2019; Galileo-Galilei Institute (Florence, Italy) |
| 2020 | Simons Fellow in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics |
| 2020 | Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award |