Peter Littlewood: key obituary facts
Is Peter Littlewood dead? Yes. Peter Littlewood died on June 15, 2026, at age 71.
Cause of death: Peter Littlewood's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Peter Littlewood known for?
He was known as British physicist.
More about Peter Littlewood
Born: 18 May 1955.
Gender: male.
Occupation: physicist, theoretical physicist, university teacher.
Education: University of Cambridge.
Employer: Santa Fe Institute, University of Chicago.
Awards: Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Also known as: Peter Brent Littlewood, Peter B. Littlewood, Littlewood PB.
Known for: polariton condensation, correlated oxides.
Peter Littlewood, a British physicist and professor at the University of Chicago, died on June 15, 2026, at the age of 71.
Known for his work on polariton condensation and correlated oxides, he was also the 12th director of Argonne National Laboratory. Born on May 18, 1955, he earned a first-class degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge in 1976, won a Kennedy Scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and returned to Cambridge to complete his PhD.
He joined Bell Labs in 1980 and later led its theoretical physics research group, before continuing there as a member of technical staff until 2001. Littlewood also headed the Cavendish Laboratory and served as a founding chair of the board of trust.