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Hawking To Retire From Cambridge Post

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 25, 2008 2:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – Stephen Hawking will retire from his chair at Cambridge University at the end of this academic year, the Telegraph reports. But the esteemed physicist will continue working at the college in an emeritus position. Cambridge requires profs to step down when they reach 67, and Hawking’s birthday is in January. He is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, the same position held by Isaac Newton.

Hawking, paralyzed by motor neurone disease, is famous for his theories on the nature of time and black holes. He even had a type of radiation named after him after groundbreaking research. His 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, became an international best-seller.

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British mathematician and astrophysicist Stephen W. Hawking. (AP Photo)

Hawking and Nelson Mandela. (AP Photo)

Dr. Stephen Hawking delivers a speech entitled "Why we should go into space" during a lecture that is part of a series honoring NASA's 50th Anniversary. (AP Photo)

Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking floats on a zero-gravity jet last year. (AP Photo)

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Hawking floats in an anti-gravity plane. (marketwire)

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