Zweig, George (1937– )

Russian-born US theoretical physicist who, along with US physicist Murray Gell-Mann, developed the quark theory. They developed a theory based on three quarks as the fundamental building blocks of the hadrons.

Zweig was born in Moscow but educated at the University of Michigan and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from where he received his PhD in 1963. Zweig spent the next year at CERN before returning to Caltech, where he was made professor of physics in 1967. Zweig is currently professor of theoretical physics at CERN.