Utrecht University: Nobel prize winner Martinus Veltman passed away

Physicist Martinus (Tini) Veltman passed away on Monday 4 January at the age of 89. Veltman was a Professor at Utrecht University from 1966 to 1981 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999, together with Gerard ‘t Hooft, for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics.

Martinus J.G. Veltman
Veltman (1931) started studying mathematics and physics at Utrecht University shortly after World War II. After his studies and military service, he obtained his PhD at Utrecht University on research that he partially carried out at CERN in Geneva. In 1966, only three years after his PhD, he returned to Utrecht University as a full Professor. The research that Veltman did together with his PhD candidate Gerard ‘t Hooft would lead to the Nobel Prize in Physics that the duo received in 1999.

Veltman left for the USA in 1981 to work at the University of Michigan, and returned to the Netherlands after his retirement in 1996. He passed away at the age of 89 in his home in Bilthoven, in the presence of his family.