Robert J. Birgeneau is the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Distinguished Chair in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as chancellor of UC Berkeley from 2004 to 2013, as president of the University of Toronto system from 2000 until 2004, and as dean of science for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1991 to 2000. After receiving his PhD in condensed matter physics from MIT in 1966, Dr. Birgeneau spent a year each at MIT and Oxford University before joining Bell Laboratories. In 1975, he became a professor of physics at MIT. His research focused on the phase transitions of several families of compounds. In his later career, he became interested in the behavior of newly discovered high-temperature superconductors. Throughout his academic and administrative careers, Dr. Birgeneau has pursued social justice activism: equity, inclusion, and access in the academy for women and underrepresented groups and broader participation in struggles for peace and equality. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Royal Society of London, among many other awards and honorifics for his contributions to the field of physics, his service to the broader academy, and his work for justice, equity, and peace.