Hitoshi Murayama named new director of the Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics

October 8, 2026
The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI)

From left to right: Kavli IPMU Professor Hitoshi Murayama, Leinweber Foundation Vice President Ashley Leinweber, inaugural Leinweber Postdoctoral Fellow Anirudh Prabhu, Leinweber Foundation Founder Larry Leinweber, and theoretical physicist James Wells (Photo by Sarah Wittmer)

Hitoshi Murayama, Professor at the University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI), has been named the next Director of the University of California, Berkeley, Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics, it was announced on October 1.

Murayama succeeds UC Berkeley Professor and Kavli IPMU Visiting Senior Scientist Yasunori Nomura, who directed the institute since 2015.

“I’m honored to be named the director of the Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Berkeley,” said Murayama. “My predecessor left big shoes to fill, and I express my biggest thanks to him for guiding us so far as the founding director of LITP.”

The institute began as the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, founded in 2000, with the goal of bringing together theoretical physicists to answer the most pressing scientific questions about the universe. The institute was renamed the Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics in 2025 following a $14.4 million gift from the Leinweber Foundation — combined with $3.6 million from UC Berkeley.

The Leinweber network now includes top theoretical physicists at UC Berkeley, Stanford, CalTech, Princeton, Harvard, MIT, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

As Leinweber Institute director, Murayama will use his previous experience as the founding director of Kavli IPMU, and has said he is most excited for his new role to foster more interaction between particle and condensed matter physicists. The two fields used to be very close but went in separate directions for many decades. Murayama observed that they are coming closer once again. He proudly noted that researchers have already started to attend a semi-weekly tea time.

“I hope the LITP can bring us all together to bring new breakthroughs in physics all the way from microscopic quantum physics to the universe at large,” said Murayama.