Robbert Dijkgraaf is the Director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. 

He is a mathematical physicist who has made significant contributions to string theory and the advancement of science education. His research focuses on the interface between mathematics and particle physics. In addition to finding surprising and deep connections between matrix models, topological string theory, and supersymmetric quantum field theory, Dijkgraaf has developed precise formulas for the counting of bound states that explain the entropy of certain black holes. For his contributions to science, Dijkgraaf was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands, in 2003, and was named a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2012. Dijkgraaf has been conferred honorary doctorates from Leiden University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Radboud University Nijmegen and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.