David Gross is the Frederick W. Gluck Professor of Theoretical Physics and Director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB. Gross is a central figure completion of the Standard Model, which details how the three basic forces of particle physics—the electromagnetic force, the weak force, and the strong force—interact. He has also made seminal contributions to the theory of Superstrings, a burgeoning enterprise that brings gravity into the quantum framework, especially the discovery and development of heterotic string theory.

He received his Ph.D. in 1966 at UC Berkeley. He was previously Thomas Jones Professor of Mathematical Physics at Princeton University. His awards include the Sakurai Prize, MacArthur Prize, Dirac Medal, Oscar Klein Medal, Harvey Prize, the EPS Particle Physics Prize, the Grande Medaille d’Or and the Nobel Prize in Physics. He holds honorary degrees from the US, Britain, France, Israel and Brazil. His membership includes the US National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Indian Academy of Science.