About Me
I was born in Haifa, Israel. I studied physics at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. After several years at the University of Texas at Austin, I returned to Oxford, where I now live and work. Since 1999 I have been a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, where I am a founder member of the Centre for Quantum Computation at the Clarendon Laboratory. I am an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Institute of Physics.
Awards
Breakthrough Prize![]()
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In 2022 I was awarded the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, together with Charles Bennett, Gilles Brassard and Peter Shor, for “foundational work in the field of quantum information”.
Fellowship of the Institute of Physics![]()
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In 2021 I was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.
Isaac Newton Prize 2021
In 2021 I was awarded the Isaac Newton Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics for “founding the discipline named quantum computation and establishing quantum computation’s fundamental idea, now known as the ‘qubit’ or quantum bit”.
Honorary Fellowship of the Cybernetics Society![]()
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Micius Quantum Prize 2018
In 2019 I was awarded the Micius Quantum Prize 2018 for “seminal conceptual contributions on quantum Turing machine and quantum algorithms”.
ICTP Dirac Prize 2017
In 2017 Charles Bennet, Peter Shor and I were awarded the Dirac Medal and Prize of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics for “building the foundations of quantum information science”.
Honorary Fellowship of Wolfson College, Oxford 2016
In 2016 I became an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.
Fellowship of the Royal Society 2008
In 2008 I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The citation reads:
“David Deutsch laid the foundations of the quantum theory of computation, and has subsequently made or participated in many of the most important advances in the field, including the discovery of the first quantum algorithms, the theory of quantum logic gates and quantum computational networks, the first quantum error-correction scheme, and several fundamental quantum universality results. He has set the agenda for worldwide research efforts in this new, interdisciplinary field, made progress in understanding its philosophical implications (via a variant of the many-universes interpretation) and made it comprehensible to the general public, notably in his book The Fabric of Reality.”
Edge Prize 2005
In 2005 I received the Edge of Computation Science Prize for 
“individual achievement in scientific work that embodies extensions of the computational idea — the design space created by Turing. It is a 21st Century prize in recognition of cutting edge work — theoretical, experimental, or both — performed, published, or newly applied within the past ten years”.
International Award on Quantum Communication 2002
In 2002 I received the Fourth International Award on Quantum Communication for “theoretical work on Quantum Computer Science”.
This was presented at the Sixth International Conference on Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing. A transcript of the talk Physics, Philosophy and Quantum Technology (PDF file here) that I gave at that conference has been published in Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing, Shapiro, J.H. and Hirota, O., Eds. (Rinton Press, Princeton, NJ. 2003).
Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford
Since 1999 I have been a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, where I am a member of the Centre for Quantum Computation at the Clarendon Laboratory.
The Paul Dirac Prize and Medal 1998
In 1998 I was awarded the Institute of Physics‘ Paul Dirac Prize and Medal. This is the Premier Award for theoretical physics within the gift of the Council of the Institute of Physics. It is made for “outstanding contributions to theoretical (including mathematical and computational) physics”.
The citation reads:
“For pioneering work in quantum computation leading to the concept of a quantum computer and for contributing to the understanding of how such devices might be constructed from quantum logic gates in quantum networks.”
Distinguished Fellowship of the British Computer Society
In 1998 I was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship of the British Computer Society. This is awarded “to members of the computing profession who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of computing”.
Press
For photographs of me, download here.
Email: david.deutsch@qubit.org