Gerardus ’t Hooft was born on July 5, 1946, Den Helder, the Netherlands. When he received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1972 at Utrecht University on “The Renormalization Procedure for Yang-Mills Fields”, this work would later earn him, together with his advisor Martinus Veltman, the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics.

’t Hooft has been Professor in Theoretical Physics at Utrecht for most of his professional life, doing research and education on the topics of the electro-weak interaction, the strong interaction and later also the gravitational forces in the world of the sub-atomic particles. Member of the Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW) as well as other institutions and academies, his work led to a number of honorary doctorates and international prizes such as the Wolf Prize of Israel, the Pius XI Medal, and the Franklin Medal.
 
Photo credit - Alex Kok