Magdalen College in Oxford, Oxfordshire, has announced the death of Professor Sir Anthony (Tony) James Leggett, who passed away on 8 March 2026. The world-famous physicist and Honorary Fellow of the college was 87 years old.
Sir Tony was a winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics and was widely known for his pioneering work on how certain materials behave at extremely low temperatures, according to Physics World.
His connection with the Oxford community began over sixty years ago when he first joined the college as a Prize Fellow in 1963. He spent four years in that role before moving on to research positions at other institutions and eventually serving as the MacArthur Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois in the United States for over four decades.
The University of Oxford Department of Physics noted that his research remains a foundational pillar of modern science. He was particularly respected for his studies on superfluidity—the phenomenon where liquids can flow without any friction.
Though he lived and worked in the US for the latter half of his career, Sir Tony remained a valued part of the Oxford academic community as an Honorary Fellow. Staff and students at Magdalen College are mourning the loss of a man widely considered a global leader in theoretical physics.
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