Keith Olive, PhD

Keith Olive, PhD, is the distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota, and director of the Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (FTPI). His research is in the area of particle physics and cosmology: big bang nucleosynthesis, which is an explanation of the origin of the light element isotopes through 7Li; big bang baryogenesis, which is an explanation of the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in nature; and inflation which is a theory constructed to resolve many outstanding problems in standard cosmology.

As an undergrad, Keith received his BS in mathematics at the University of Chicago, and as a Hertz Fellow, he decided to remain at the University of Chicago in order to obtain his PhD in physics. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Particle Data Group. In 1988, he was the recipient of the George Taylor Research Award, and in 1987, he received the Presidential Young Investigator Award.