Jan Zaanen obtained his PhD in physics at Groningen University in the Netherlands, 1986. He was subsequently employed at the Max-Planck-Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, then moved in 1990 to Bell laboratories, Murray Hill, United States as a long-term visitor of the theory group. He returned to Leiden University in the Netherlands in 1993 where he got appointed as full Professor in Theoretical Physics in 2000. He became well known for his various groundbreaking discoveries in this field, honored by a Spinoza ("Dutch Nobel") prize, a fellowship of the Dutch Royal Academy (KNAW), and visiting professorships at Stanford University, the Ecole Normale Superieur in Paris and the Solvay Institute in Brussels.
