Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who held the position of director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious academic posts globally.

Hawking was born in Oxford into a family of physicians. He began his university education at University College, Oxford, at the age of 17, where he received a first-class BA degree in physics. He continued his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, specializing in general relativity and cosmology.

In 1963, at age 21, Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset form of motor neurone disease that gradually paralyzed him over decades. Despite losing his speech, he communicated through a speech-generating device.

Hawking's scientific contributions include collaborations on gravitational singularity theorems and the theoretical prediction of Hawking radiation, a major breakthrough in theoretical physics. He was the first to propose a theory of cosmology explained by the union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.

He achieved commercial success with popular science books such as "A Brief History of Time", which remained on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 2002, he was ranked number 25 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 76, having lived over 50 years following his diagnosis of motor neurone disease.