Arlie Oswald Petters
(1964- )
Mathematical Physicist

Arlie Oswald Petters is the Benjamin Powell Professor and Professor of Mathematics, Physics, and Business Administration at Duke University. He is a multi-dimensional theoretician who was the first to develop the mathematical theory of gravitational lensing, which brought powerful methods from pure mathematics to bear on astronomy. Dr. Petters also pioneered new applications of gravitational lensing in physics, predicting effects that probe the nature of spacetime around black holes and developing tests of gravitational theories such as Einstein's general relativity and hyperspace gravity models. His numerous awards and honors include an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the first Blackwell-Tapia Prize in the mathematical sciences, and an honorary D.Sc. from his alma mater, Hunter College. At Duke's Fuqua School of Business, Dr. Petters not only teaches quantitative finance, but also fosters entrepreneurship in science and technology with a vested interest in poverty alleviation, particularly in the developing world. At Duke, he is the first African American to be tenured in the Department of Mathematics, the first to hold a joint appointment with Mathematics, Physics, and the Business School, and the first to be elected to Duke's prestigious Bass Society of Fellows. Dr. Petters received his Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT in 1991 and served on the faculty at MIT and Princeton University prior to Duke. In recognition of his outstanding scientific and educational work, Dr. Petters was named in 2008 by the Queen of England to membership in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

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Interviews:

Interview with Arlie Petters on Nova