Donald A. Spector

Donald A. Spector is a Professor of Physics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where he has been a faculty member since 1989. He earned his A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard in 1981, followed by an A.M. in 1983 and Ph.D. in 1986, with his thesis titled "Consequences of Supersymmetry" under advisor Howard Georgi. Prior to joining HWS, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at Cornell University (1986-1988) and an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Utrecht (1988-1989).

Professor Spector's research spans theoretical physics with a focus on supersymmetry, quantum field theory, and the intersection of physics with mathematics and other disciplines. His scholarly interests include Supersymmetry in physics and mathematics, Particle Theory, Q-balls, Computational complexity and physics, Set theory and physics, Quantum field theory, Magnetic monopoles, and the applications of physics to computer science, biology, economics, and the arts. He has made significant contributions including the first proof that the Most Attractive Channel conjecture is false, applications of supersymmetry to arithmetic number theory, model-independent derivations of Bogomol'nyi bounds, and pioneering work applying set theoretic forcing to physics.

Spector's research has been consistently supported by prestigious external funding from the National Science Foundation (multiple grants from 1982-2010), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2004), the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (as a KITP Scholar from 2005-2008), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Foundational Questions Institute (including a $50,000 grant in 2013 for "Set Theoretic Forcing and Information Theory"). His interdisciplinary work extends to physics and the arts, particularly theatre and music, where he has developed connections between quantum physics and artistic expression.

• Philip J. Moorad '28 and Margaret N. Moorad Professor of Science (2005-2010)
• KITP Scholar (2005-2008)
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science visiting fellowship
• Teaching awards at Harvard and Cornell

As an educator, Spector has taught a wide range of courses including Physics through Star Trek, Quantum Computing, Modern Physics, and several innovative first-year seminars exploring time travel, multiple universes, and the intersection of science and society. He has served as coordinator of the Engineering Program at HWS for over two decades and has chaired the Physics Department. Beyond his academic roles, he is a founding member and Board member of the Anacapa Society, dedicated to supporting theoretical physics research at primarily undergraduate institutions, and serves as President of Zeta of New York (the HWS Phi Beta Kappa chapter).