Jeremy England

Jeremy England is an American physicist who uses statistical physics arguments to explain the spontaneous emergence of life, and consequently, the modern synthesis of evolution. England terms this process "dissipation-driven adaptation".
Early life.
England's mother was the daughter of Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors while his father was a non-observant Lutheran. England was born in Boston and raised in a college town in New Hampshire. He was raised Jewish but did not study Judaism until he attended graduate school at Oxford University. He now considers himself an Orthodox Jew.
England earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Harvard in 2003. After being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, he studied at St. John's College, Oxford from 2003 until 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in physics at Stanford in 2009. In 2011, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics Department as an Assistant Professor. In 2019, he joined GlaxoSmithKline as a Senior Director in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Theoretical work.
England has developed a hypothesis of the physics of the origins of life, that he calls 'dissipation-driven adaptation'. The hypothesis holds that random groups of molecules can self-organize to more efficiently absorb and dissipate heat from the environment. His hypothesis states that such self-organizing systems are an inherent part of the physical world.
Pulitzer-Prize winning science historian Edward J. Larson said that if England can demonstrate his hypothesis to be true, "he could be the next Darwin."
In popular culture.
England and his 'dissipation-driven adaptation' theory features in Dan Brown's novel "Origin".
The fictional character is not related to the real Jeremy England.
Awards.
England shared APS 2021 Irwin Oppenheim Award with Sumantra Sarkar. He is also listed in a Forbes "30 under 30" in science.
England was selected as Rhodes Scholar in 2003. Also in 2003, the Hertz Foundation awarded England a Hertz Fellowship.
References.
 Forbes.com seems to have lost most of the content on his profile and lists a broken link to the 2012 30-under-30 in Science. The Hertz Foundation profile mentions the 2018 Forbes 30-under-30. However, neither the 2012 nor the 2018 official listing pages on Forbes.com list England.