# David Thouless

_British physicist (1934–2019)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/david-thouless
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> David James Thouless was a British condensed-matter physicist. He was awarded the 1990 Wolf Prize and a laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize for physics along with F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 21 September 1934 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Bearsden ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P19))
- **Died:** 6 April 2019 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P570))
- **Place of death:** Cambridge ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United Kingdom; United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P27))
- **Occupation:** physicist; university teacher; nuclear physicist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P106))
- **Education:** Trinity Hall; Cornell University; Clare Hall ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P69))
- **Awards:** Fellow of the Royal Society; Holweck Prize; Fritz London Award; Wolf Prize in Physics; Nobel Prize in Physics; IOP Dirac Medal; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Maxwell Medal and Prize; Lars Onsager Prize ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394#P166))

## Questions

**When was David Thouless born?**  
David Thouless was born on 21 September 1934 in Bearsden.

**Where did David Thouless study?**  
David Thouless was educated at Trinity Hall, Cornell University, Clare Hall.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): David Thouless](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thouless) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q726394](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726394) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: DavidThouless 1995 UW.jpg by Mary Levin (CC BY-SA 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DavidThouless_1995_UW.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article David Thouless, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: DavidThouless 1995 UW.jpg — Mary Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Cite this page

"David Thouless". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/david-thouless. Retrieved 5 November 2026.