WINNIPEG – A look at James Peebles, the Canadian-born physicist who shares this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.

Age: 84

Early years: Born in the Winnipeg neighbourhood of St. Boniface, Peebles moved to the United States to pursue a graduate degree after studying in Manitoba.

Education: BSc from the University of Manitoba in 1958, PhD from Princeton in 1962

Area of research: A physical cosmologist who says he’s most interested in “underappreciated issues.” His work examining cosmic microwave background radiation — a leftover from the Big Bang — has helped define the way we understand the universe and the ways galaxies are formed.

Accolades: Honourary doctorates from a string of universities around the world, including several in Canada. Peebles is also a fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Order of Manitoba and won the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Family: Married to Alison Peebles in 1958. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Quote: “You should enter science because you are fascinated by it. That’s what I did.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2019.