Sir Anthony Leggett was a professor at U of I from 1983 until his retirement in 2018. According to the university, he was widely recognized as a world leader in condensed matter physics and for his pioneering work on superfluidity and the quantum mechanics of macroscopic systems.
In 2003, Leggett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids.
According to U of I, some of Leggett's other awards include: the Wolf Prize in Physics (2022-23), the Eugene Feenberg Memorial Medal (1999), the Paul Dirac Medal and Prize (1991), the Simon Memorial Prize (1981), the Fritz London Memorial Award (1981), and the James Clerk Maxwell Medal and Prize (1975).
Leggett died March 8, 2026 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife, Haruko Kinase-Leggett, who he married in 1973, his daughter, Elizabeth Asako Kinase-Leggett, and his sisters, Judith Leggett and Clare Prangley.