The Resume

(November 6, 1932- )
Born in Etterbeek, Belgium
Theoretical physicist
With Robert Brout, predicted the existence of a subatomic field (and associated particle) that gives other particles mass (1964)
Same prediction was made independently by Peter Higgs and by the team of Gerry Guralnik, Carl R. Hagen and Tom Kibble
Particle discovered in experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (2012)
With Higgs, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics (2013)

Why he might be annoying:

Guralnik said of the papers by Englert and Brout and by Higgs, 'Frankly we didn't take them very seriously at the time. We felt they missed the main point.'
Although their names are linked thanks to their shared Nobel Prize, he and Higgs did not even meet until the July 4, 2012, ceremony at CERN to announce the discovery of the particle.
Because of the rule that a Nobel Prize cannot be given to more than three individuals, Guralnik, Hagen and Kibble got shafted. (Potential sixth contender Brout had died the year before CERN found the particle.)
Hagen complained, 'Faced with a choice between the rulebook and an even-handed judgment, the Swedes chose the rulebook.'
There were also complaints that no one from CERN, who after all found the elusive particle, was recognized by the Nobel committee. (A member of the CERN teams said, 'For the experimentalists, we are kind of used to being excluded from the Nobel.')

Why he might not be annoying:

He survived the Nazi occupation of Belgium during WWII by concealing his Jewish identity and being sheltered in orphanages.
Although he and Brout were first to publish the theory, the particle became known as the Higgs boson.
The theory explained why some particles, such as electrons, have mass, while others, such as photons, exist solely as energy.
It's not as if Englert is responsible for the Nobel committee's rule of three.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• 21st Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 50]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [November] (Ranked: 11061932)
• I Was in an Orphanage
• Look at Me, I'm a Helmet Head
• Nobel Prize for Physics (Ranked: 2013)
• Profiles 34751-35000 (Ranked: 34892)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 90 Votes: 64.44% Annoying