Gordy is a physicist. He thinks big thoughts.

At the University of Michigan, his research focuses on ways to “test, extend, and strengthen the Standard Model of Particle Physics,” with an emphasis on the supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, along with methods for understanding the Higgs sector.

Big thoughts, indeed.

As you might expect, Gordy hangs with a very brainy crowd. In fact, he and fellow physics rock star Stephen Hawking had a longstanding wager about whether scientists would discover the elusive Higgs boson. Gordy won the bet, and he’s got Hawking’s $100 dollar check hanging on the wall to prove it. Ponder that.

Gordy was in town for his grand-daughter’s bat mitzvah, and was kind enough to pose for a True Colors portrait. On his next trip to Madison, he’s going to teach me the Inverse Square Law of Light. Anyone taking bets on this one?