PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Raymond Laflamme

Also known as Ray

Raymond Laflamme was a quantum information researcher whose work on error-correcting codes helped explain how quantum computers can preserve states against noise. He studied physics at Université Laval, earned a Cambridge PhD under Stephen Hawking, and turned from cosmology to quantum computing at Los Alamos. He joined Waterloo and Perimeter Institute in 2001 and led the Institute for Quantum Computing as its founding executive director from 2002 to 2017. He received an honorary degree in 2012 and became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017, when he also took Waterloo’s John von Neumann Chair in Quantum Information. He held that chair when he died in 2025.

Timeline

  1. 1990

    A Cambridge doctorate

    He studies physics at Université Laval, earns a PhD under Stephen Hawking at Cambridge, and returns to Peterhouse as a research fellow in 1990.

  2. 1994

    A shift to quantum computing

    At Los Alamos, his work shifts from cosmology to quantum computing. In late 1994, he identifies decoherence as a threat to quantum computers.

  3. 1996

    A theory of error correction

    He and Emanuel Knill submit a theory of quantum error-correcting codes in 1996, with conditions for recovering encoded states after interactions. Their work also leads to a threshold-accuracy theorem for long computations with error rates below a limit.

  4. 2001–2017

    Building the quantum institute

    In 2001, he joins the University of Waterloo and Perimeter Institute. He serves as the Institute for Quantum Computing’s founding executive director from 2002 to 2017.

  5. 2012

    An honorary degree

    He receives an honorary degree from Université de Sherbrooke in 2012.

  6. 2017

    A chair and a national honour

    He is named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017 for advancing quantum science and technology. In 2017, he becomes the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis John von Neumann Chair in Quantum Information at Waterloo.

  7. 2025

    The John von Neumann Chair

    At his death in June 2025, he holds the inaugural Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis John von Neumann Chair in Quantum Information at Waterloo.

  8. 2025

    Death in 2025

    He dies on June 19, 2025.

Sources and credits

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  1. CACR: People: Faculty: Raymond Laflamme cacr.uwaterloo.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Waterloo mourns the loss of Dr. Raymond Laflamme | Waterloo News | University of Waterloo uwaterloo.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. [quant-ph/9604034] A Theory of Quantum Error-Correcting Codes arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Perimeter founding faculty member Raymond Laflamme named to Order of Canada | PI News perimeterinstitute.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. New research chair in quantum error correction | Institute for Quantum Computing | University of Waterloo uwaterloo.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Dr. Raymond Laflamme | The Governor General of Canada gg.ca. Checked 15 October 2026.