Princeton professor dies after rock climbing rope snapped and he plunged 300ft on family vacation in France
- Steven Scott Gubser, 47, fell 300ft while climbing Comb Needle near Chamonix
- His death on Saturday came as he vacationed with his family in France
- He had daughters, Cecily, Heidi and Lillian with his wife Laura Landweber, 51
- Princeton University is planning a celebration of his life and work in fall semester
- His Little Book of String Theory and The Little Book of Black Holes communicated abstract theoretical ideas to a general worldwide audience
A Princeton physics professor well known for his trailblazing research on exact relations between the string theory and quantum field theory has died after falling while rock climbing in France.
Steven Scott Gubser, 47, was tackling Comb Needle near Chamonix with his climbing partner - a 49-year-old American male - on Saturday when the incident occurred, LeMessager.fr reported.
The French publication reported his rope snapped while climbing but his unidentified partner survived.
Gubser who has a Guggenheim Fellowship, Gribov Medal of the European Physical Society, and Simons Investigator Awards to his name, was on vacation with his family when he lost his life near Mont Blanc – the highest peak in Europe.
Steven Scott Gubser, 47, fell 300ft while climbing Comb Needle near Chamonix. He was with his climbing partner - a 49-year-old American male - when his rope reportedly snapped. He is pictured on other climbing expeditions
He had three children with wife Laura Landweber and was on a family vacation when he died
Mont Blanc Massif - the highest peak in Europe - is pictured with a view to Chaine des Aravis
The father-of-three survived by his American evolutionary biologist wife, Laura Landweber, 51, who is a professor of biochemistry & molecular biophysics and of biological sciences at Columbia University.
He had daughters, Cecily, Heidi and Lillian with his Princeton Class of 1989 spouse.
New Jersey's Princeton University is planning a celebration of the Oklahoma man's life and work for the start of the fall semester.
Notable achievements include the Class of 1994 alumni's introduction of new teaching methods to the school's established Physics 101 and 102 courses, as well as persuading sophomore students to major in physics by establishing the Invitation to Theoretical Physics course.
In his teens Gubser, who also lived in Colorado during his youth, achieved the top individual score as a member of the U.S. team at the 1989 International Physics Olympiad held in Warsaw, Poland.
A French publication reported his rope snapped while climbing but his partner survived
His Little Book of String Theory and The Little Book of Black Holes communicated abstract theoretical ideas to a general worldwide audience
To the general public, his Princeton University Press books The Little Book of String Theory (2010) and The Little Book of Black Holes (2017) have proved helpful communicating abstract theoretical ideas and attracted a worldwide readership.
In his personal life he was 'often spotted uni-cycling around the Ivy League college's town with his two younger daughters, including the annual alumni Parade and Memorial Day parades', Princeton said on its website.
The active professor was so good on one wheel that he once uni-cycled across a frozen Lake Carnegie - which is located at Princeton and stretches 35 feet from the shoreline.
He was also described as an accomplished piano player who recently accompanied and sang with his Princeton High School student eldest daughter at the Princeton annual recital.
Igor Klebanov, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and director of Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, called it a 'huge loss' for the world of theoretical physics.
'I am shocked and devastated by the untimely passing of Steve,' the man who supervised Gubser's senior and Ph.D. theses said. 'I have known him from the time when he, as a Princeton junior, enrolled in a graduate course I was teaching, and was by far the best student in the class. We have collaborated on many research papers, and my most influential paper by far was written in collaboration with him and Alexander Polyakov.
'Steve's death is a huge loss for Princeton University, and for the world of theoretical physics. I will miss him greatly.'
He leaves behind daughters, Cecily, Heidi and Lillian with his Princeton Class of 1989 spouse
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