By Tiffany Ayuda
Walking into Dr. Gregory Levine’s office in the Chemistry/Physics building can be nerve-wracking.With a pair of eyeglasses tilted on his nose, a grey button-down polo tucked into dark grey twilled pants, Levine looks like any average person, but he isn’t. In fact, Levine is a Physics and Chemistry professor, a quantum physicist, researcher, husband and father. Not many people know someone like Levine. He looks just like any other person walking through the halls of the University, but he is a man with a unique and rare intellect.
However, he is not blind-sighted by his renowned success and reputation. In his humility and laid-back personality, Levine is actually a very approachable person who is willing to share his knowledge and intellect with others. Surprisingly, he confessed that he was nervous and that has never been good at interviews.
Levine received his bachelor’s degree in Quantum Physics at Columbia University in 1983. After finishing his undergraduate studies, he continued to pursue his goal to become a quantum physicist at Columbia and ultimately received his masters degree in 1985 and his doctorate in 1989. From 1989 to 1993, Levine was a research associate at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston.
Throughout his career, Levine has managed to publish several scholarly articles that have been given outstanding appraisals. He and his colleagues have produced works in the “Physical Review Letters” and the “Physical Review.” These scholarly articles range from the “Entanglement Entropy in a Boundary Impurity Model,” which currently appears in the “Physical Review Letters” to the “Localization Transition in the Mermin Model,” which was published with V.N. Muthakumar in 2001.
It’s clear that these are not subjects that average people occasionally discuss. To get these articles published, it takes a lot of dedication to research and an openness to constructive criticism. Time and research are truly the essence of hypothesizing a theory. These theories also need to be analyzed and approved by the physics and scientific community. Research is acquiring knowledge. His research interests include condensed matter theory, strongly correlated fermions, and quantum computing and decoherence.
However, Levine considers his biggest accomplishment to be his paper on “Quantum Information, Quantum Mechanics generates Information,” which argues that when particles relate they begin to lose their identity. This information is a resource for computers. He is currently working on some aspects in black holes in quantum mechanics.
Aside from working, Levine finds his job as professor at the University fulfilling and inspiring. The University has allowed him to indulge in his profession but still be able to have a meaningful career in teaching.
“The University has allowed me to maintain a good balance with research and teaching,” he said.
Furthermore, the research is less specialized and he is able to work on different aspects of research and not have to concentrate on one specifically. Levine admits that research is very frustrating and a very difficult process.
“I refer to research as something you are continually reaching.” Levine said.
He is extremely motivated and passionate about achieving his goals. When asked if his goals as a professor and a physicist differ, he interestingly answered that they are convergent. He finds teaching and researching a very natural thing. However, he somewhat enjoys being a professor more.
“Research is a byproduct-an excuse to learn,” Levine said.
As a professor, he feels it is his obligation to share his passion and enthusiasm with eager minds that are willing to work and embrace the message of science to the world.
“It’s important to be enthusiastic and passionate about your work,” Levine said.
He tries to bring the excitement and passion of his work with his students.
“My most important goal as a professor is to provoke the curiosity in their minds again,” the professor said.
As a former student, Levine knows that at a certain point in your life, you begin to stop questioning what you are taught and accept things for what they are. However, it’s important to incite the curiosity and the excitement in your mind again and answer the questions yourself.
“Learning should be more like showing and less telling,” Levine said.
Levine hopes that his students inherit enthusiasm for the subject and influence their peers to also be passionate. He says that the most important factor in learning is curiosity and to never lose it.
His students say that they truly cherish and appreciate the knowledge Levine has given them.
Tabassum Azad, a freshman Electrical Engineering major, said that Levine is one of the most intelligent people she has ever met and is one of the very few professors who values teaching and makes sure that his students are learning.
“Dr. Levine reaffirmed my passion and dedication to becoming an engineer,” Azad said.
“Dr. Levine is a very active researcher. I feel very comfortable discussing anything with Dr. Levine,” Dr. Garuthara, a fellow colleague and professor of physics, said. “I can talk about politics, religion, and science with him. At times, we can get into heated arguments; we do not necessarily agree on everything, but he respects my opinions. He is very open and not judgmental. He is also a good father and very family-oriented.”
Aside from his research and job, he likes to indulge in other activities. He enjoys the academic world and its perks.
“One of them is not parking,” he said, laughingly.
His biggest perk is the summer time when he gets to unwind and relax. Dr. Levine enjoys playing the guitar, going on ski trips, and spending time with his four year-old son and family. He evenly distributes his time with work and leisure. Dr. Levine is many things, but he only cares about one thing in particular: sharing his passion for science.
Students outside his field of study are honored to have the opportunity to meet such an intelligent person.
Although Levine is not larger than life, colleagues see him as a person who does more than share his knowledge with the world. He is a living example of what people should strive to become.