Rob Phillips

Rob Phillips grew up in San Diego, California in a home filled with books, leading to a love affair with books and reading that has continued to this day. He is the Fred and Nancy Morris Professor of Biophysics and Biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Phillips received his PhD in condensed matter physics at Washington University in 1989 studying with Anders Carlsson from whom he learned an enormous amount about the conduct of science and about science itself. Prior to the great fun of a life in science, he spent seven years of travel, self-study and work as an electrician.

Though teaching is often viewed within research universities as a chore, Phillips finds teaching to be a central part of his attempt to learn more about how the world works. Stated simply, writing books is an intense and personal experience that Rob links to his teaching and is the primary way he is able to really learn a subject. He is currently engaged in several book projects, one of which focuses on the statistical mechanics of cell signaling and the other of which with Hernan Garcia provides a quantitative view of gene expression.