Martinec was born October 4, 1958,[2] inDowners Grove, Illinois. He graduated fromNorthwestern University in 1979 and earned hisPh.D. fromCornell University in 1984, with a dissertation titled,Quantum Mechanics Versus General Covariance In Gravity And String Models, advised byMichael Peskin.[3] He worked the last two years of his graduate education atSLAC, following Peskin's move there.
Early in his career, Martinec worked atPrinceton University, where he was part of a research group known as the "Princeton string quartet" that also included physicistsDavid Gross,Jeffrey A. Harvey andRyan Rohm.[4] The group developed heterotic string theory in 1985.[5] As its name suggests, heterotic string theory combines elements of multiple versions of string theory to attempt to create a more realistic explanation ofelementary particle physics. This work was part of a series of advances that forestalled the predicted merger ofcosmology and fundamental physics.[6]
He is currently a professor at the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. He directs the university's Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics.[7]
