Neil Gershenfeld is the director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. His unique laboratory breaks down boundaries between the digital and physical worlds, from creating molecular quantum computers to virtuosic musical instruments. Technology from his lab has been displayed and used in a range of settings including New York's Museum of Modern Art, rural Indian villages, the White House, the World Economic Forum, inner-city community centers, automobile safety systems, and more. He has been named one of Scientific American's 50 leaders in science and technology, one of 40 Modern-Day Leonardos by the Museum of Science and Industry, one of Popular Mechanic's 25 Makers, one of the top 100 public intellectuals by Prospect/Foreign Policy, and has been selected as a CNN/Time/Fortune Principal Voice.
Gershenfeld has a B.A. in physics with High Honors from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in applied physics from Cornell University, and honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, Strathclyde University, and the University of Antwerp. He was a junior fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and a member of the research staff at Bell Labs.
