PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Charles H. Bennett

Also known as C.H. Bennett, Charles Bennett

Charles Bennett helped build quantum information science through work on reversible computation, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation. He earned a chemistry BA from Brandeis and a chemical physics doctorate from Harvard, then worked at IBM on the physics of information. With Gilles Brassard, he devised the BB84 quantum cryptography protocol; with other collaborators, he showed how entanglement and classical communication can transmit intact quantum states. He shared the 2025 Turing Award with Brassard for contributions that helped establish quantum information science. As of October 2026, he is an IBM Fellow and research scientist at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights.

Works
144
Citations
78,325
h-index
56
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1943–1971

    From New York to Harvard

    He is born in New York in 1943 and takes part in the 1960 Science Talent Search. He earns a chemistry BA from Brandeis in 1964 and completes a chemical physics PhD at Harvard in 1971 under David Turnbull and Berni Alder.

  2. 1973

    Reversible computation at IBM

    By 1973, he works at IBM on the physics of information, including Maxwell's demon, reversible computation, and quantum information theory. He publishes a paper on logical reversibility of computation in 1973.

  3. 1984

    Quantum cryptography

    With Gilles Brassard, he devises the BB84 quantum cryptography protocol in 1984.

  4. 1984–1987

    Visiting posts at Boston and MIT

    He serves as a visiting professor in Boston University's Computer Science Department from 1984 to 1986 and as a visiting scientist at MIT's Computer Science Lab from 1986 to 1987.

  5. 1993–1995

    Teleportation and IBM Fellowship

    He and his collaborators show in 1993 that classical communication and prior entanglement can transmit intact quantum states, a result called quantum teleportation. He becomes an IBM Fellow in 1995.

  6. 2025

    An A.M. Turing Award

    He shares the 2025 ACM A.M. Turing Award with Gilles Brassard for contributions that helped establish quantum information science.

  7. As of October 2026

    IBM Fellow in Yorktown Heights

    As of October 2026, he is an IBM Fellow and research scientist at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights.

Career

  1. Since 1995IBMIBM Fellow
  2. NowIBM ResearchResearch scientist
  3. 1986–1987Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyVisiting scientist
  4. 1984–1986Boston UniversityVisiting professor

Education

  1. 1971Harvard UniversityPhD
  2. 1964Brandeis UniversityBA

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

Most-cited works

  1. Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels1993 · Physical Review Letters · 13,702 citationsWith Claude Crépeau, Gilles Brassard and Richard Jozsa
  2. Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing2014 · Theoretical Computer Science · 8,261 citationsWith Gilles Brassard
  3. Communication via one- and two-particle operators on Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen states1992 · Physical Review Letters · 5,451 citations
  4. Mixed-state entanglement and quantum error correction1996 · Physical Review A · 5,273 citationsWith John A. Smolin
  5. Elementary gates for quantum computation1995 · Physical Review A · 4,303 citationsWith Harald Weinfurter, John A. Smolin, Peter W. Shor and Richard Cleve

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. Google alumni founded or led 81 other organizations, the most among the labs we compareIncludes IBM. We trace 194 organizations founded or led by AI lab alumni, and 202 career moves between the labs.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes IBM. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes IBM. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Charles H. Bennett yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Charles H. Bennett - Society for Science societyforscience.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Charles Bennett - IBM Research research.ibm.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Charles H. Bennett, 12th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. IBM Fellow and Quantum Pioneer Charles H. Bennett Receives A.M. Turing Award, Computing’s Highest Honor newsroom.ibm.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. ‘Nobel Prize in Computing’ goes to Brandeis alum Charles H. Bennett ’64 brandeis.edu. Checked 18 October 2026.