PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Aashish Clerk

Also known as Aashish A. Clerk

Aashish Clerk is a theoretical physicist who studies quantum information and how to control engineered quantum systems. He earned an honours B.Sc. in mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto and a physics PhD at Cornell, completed postdoctoral work at Yale, and joined McGill in 2004. At the University of Chicago, he developed theory for one-way energy transfer in quantum devices and coauthored methods to simulate dissipative spin chains and stabilize remote qubit entanglement. His honors include the 2015 Rutherford Memorial Medal, a 2020 Simons Investigator appointment, and a 2021 American Physical Society fellowship; as of October 2026, he is Professor of Molecular Engineering at UChicago and an Amazon Scholar and serves on an APS committee through 2027.

Works
329
Citations
16,438
h-index
60
Badges
Links
Website

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1996–2004

    Toronto, Cornell, and Yale

    He earns an honours B.Sc. in mathematics and physics at the University of Toronto in 1996 and a physics PhD at Cornell in 2001. He works as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale through 2004.

  2. 2004–2017

    McGill and a Canada Research Chair

    In 2004, he joins McGill's Department of Physics as an assistant professor and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Mesoscopic Physics. From 2015 to 2017, he holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Theory of Engineered Quantum Systems.

  3. 2015

    Rutherford Memorial Medal

    The Royal Society of Canada awards him the Rutherford Memorial Medal in Physics in 2015.

  4. 2017–2019

    UChicago and one-way phonon flow

    He joins the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as a faculty member in 2017. His research spans theoretical condensed matter physics, quantum optics, engineered quantum systems, and quantum information. In 2019, an experiment uses light to create a directional channel for vibrational energy based on his theory.

  5. 2020–2021

    Simons Investigator and APS Fellow

    He becomes a Simons Investigator in Theoretical Physics in 2020. The American Physical Society elects him a Fellow in 2021 for his contributions to quantum optomechanics and quantum dissipation engineering.

  6. 2025

    Simulating dissipative spin chains

    In 2025, he and Andrew Pocklington publish a stochastic-unraveling method for simulating dissipative spin chains. The method lets researchers calculate observables efficiently in a wide class of noisy quantum systems.

  7. July 2026

    Remote logical entanglement

    In July 2026, he and Mingxing Yao introduce dissipative Floquet protocols to stabilize remote entanglement of logical qubits. The protocols also implement autonomous entanglement distillation.

  8. 2025–2027

    Professor and APS committee member

    He serves on the American Physical Society's Committee on Council Committees for 2025–2027. As of October 2026, he is Professor of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and an Amazon Scholar.

Career

  1. Since 2024AmazonAmazon Scholar
  2. Since 2017University of ChicagoProfessor of Molecular Engineering
  3. 2004–2017McGill UniversityAssistant Professor, Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Mesoscopic Physics
  4. 2002–2004Yale UniversityPostdoctoral fellow

Education

  1. 2001Cornell UniversityPhysics PhD
  2. 1996University of TorontoHonours B.Sc. in mathematics and physics

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. 16% of AI career moves in the 2020s went from a university to a companyIncludes Aashish Clerk. We estimate that 16% of AI career moves in the 2020s went from a university to a company; 29% of moves starting at a university went to a company, and 76% ended the university role.
  2. Among employers with 30+ full-time cases, OpenAI leads primary technical role H-1B pay at $310,000, and Amazon, Google and Microsoft file 57% of all casesIncludes Amazon. Across 440,669 certified US H-1B filings from 44 employers (FY2020–FY2026), OpenAI leads primary technical role base pay at $310,000 and xAI leads overall base pay at $290,000.
  3. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes Amazon. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  4. Google alumni have founded or led 133 other organizations, more than any other AI labIncludes Amazon. We estimate that alumni of 17 major AI labs went on to found or lead 350 other organizations, including 226 they founded, and we trace 472 career moves directly between 23 labs since 2010.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Aashish Clerk | PME | The University of Chicago pme.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Aashish Clerk - University of Chicago clerkgroup.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. McGill University's five newest Canada Research Chairs | Newsroom - McGill University mcgill.ca. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. 25 Canada Research Chairs for McGill | Newsroom - McGill University mcgill.ca. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Aashish Clerk awarded Rutherford Medal in Physics by RSC - McGill Reporter reporter.mcgill.ca. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. In quantum breakthrough, scientists demonstrate ‘one-way street’ for energy flow | University of Chicago News news.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. PME faculty honored by American Physical Society | PME | The University of Chicago pme.uchicago.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Efficient Simulation of Nontrivial Dissipative Spin Chains via Stochastic Unraveling | PRX Quantum journals.aps.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. [2607.21360] Floquet Reservoir Engineering for Remote Logical Entanglement arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Committee on Council Committees aps.org. Checked 20 October 2026.