The University broke its own record by having two faculty members win the Nobel Prize two days in a row.

Anthony Leggett, a University physics professor, received the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday morning for his contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids. Paul Lauterbur, professor at the Center for Advanced Studies, received the Nobel Prize in medicine for his contributions to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Monday.

According to a press release by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, superconducting material is used in MRI for medical examinations and particle accelerators in physics.

"His discovery, that superfluids exhibit the same properties observed in quantum mechanics, can be used to help test whether the laws of quantum physics hold on a large scale," said University chancellor Nancy Cantor, in a press conference held Tuesday at the Illini Union.

Leggett shares the prize with Alexei A. Abrikosov of Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and Vitaly L. Ginzburg of the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow. He is the youngest of the three winners.

Leggett said he never considered studying physics while he was growing up although his father is a high school physics teacher. He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy.

"It is the last thing I thought of becoming," he said.

He said having a degree in philosophy has helped him in his research — as a result of studying philosophy, he said he learned how to ask questions.

"Philosophy helped me gain a sense of vision in the sense that I learned to ask questions (in order to understand my research)," he said.

He said he received the news of his award at 4:40 a.m. from The Royal Swedish Academy in Moscow and that the news was completely unexpected.

"I'm surprised to be recognized," Leggett said.

His colleagues took him out to lunch after his speech Tuesday morning.

"Hopefully it gave Tony some moments of respite after waking up very early and not having had a moment to pause and take it all in," said Smitha Vishveshwara, a post-doctorate student who works with Leggett.

Graduate student Parag Ghosh said Leggett provides his students with a lot of liberty in pursuing their research and teaches difficult concepts with simple terms.

"He can explain very complex things in simple words that make a lot of sense and (he) brings the best out of each student," Ghosh said.

There will be a reception held in honor of Leggett's achievements at the Levis Faculty Center today at 1:30 p.m.