Human Interest Professor Stephen Hawking: His Life in Photos The world-renowned physicist, who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease at age 21, died on March 14, 2018 By Grace Gavilanes Grace Gavilanes Grace Gavilanes is a former associate editor at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2018. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 8, 2023 10:00AM EST Close 01 of 14 Stephen Hawking's Early Years Santi Visalli/Getty As a 21-year-old student at Camdridge University, Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease and was given only two years to live. As his condition worsened, Hawking gradually began to lose his ability to move, slowly being able to communicate by using a single cheek muscle that was attached to a device that allowed him to speak. 02 of 14 Stephen Hawking's Studies Girish Srivastava/Hindustan Times via Getty Images Despite his diagnosis and alarming prognosis, Hawking continued his studies at Cambridge University, and went on to change the subject of cosmology. 03 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Wife Jane Eleanor Bentall/Corbis via Getty Images While he was still a student at Cambridge University, before his battle with motor neuron disease, Hawking met his first wife, Jane. Jane and Hawking divorced in 1995 after 30 years of marriage, but she remained a constant in his life. 04 of 14 Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time REX/Shutterstock In 1988, Hawking published his bestseller book, A Brief History of Time, which featured a "theory of everything" that would later inspire an Oscar-winning film by the same name, decades later. 05 of 14 Stephen Hawking's Pop Culture Moments Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage "It would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we should know the mind of God," he wrote in A Brief History of Time. The book catapulted his fame from just within academia and he became a household name. He became a familiar figure in pop culture, with guest roles on The Simpsons and Star Trek: The Next Generation. 06 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Wife Elaine Mason Arnold Slater/Mirrorpix/Getty Images In 1995, Hawking remarried Elaine Mason and the couple were together 11 years before ending their marriage. 07 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Jim Carrey REX/Shutterstock In 2003, Jim Carrey visited Professor Stephen Hawking at his home in Cambridge, Britain. 08 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Nelson Mandela DENIS FARRELL/AFP/Getty Images Hawking and former President Nelson Mandela got acquainted in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May 2008. 09 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Barack Obama Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In 2009, Hawking was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. 10 of 14 Stephen Hawking on The Big Bang Theory Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images Jim Parsons posed with Hawking as the pair geared up to film scenes for The Big Bang Theory, in which Parsons' character Sheldon got to finally meet his hero, Hawking. 11 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Jane Fonda Ryan Miller/Getty Images Backstage at a preview performance of 33 Variations, Jane Fonda — who portrayed a musicologist with ALS in the play — met with Hawking in 2011. 12 of 14 Stephen Hawking and Queen Elizabeth II Jonathan Brady - Pool / Getty Images In May 2014, Queen Elizabeth II met Professor Stephen Hawking during a reception for Leonard Cheshire Disability in the State Rooms. 13 of 14 Stephen Hawking and The Theory of Everything Movie Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images In 2014, Hawking's life was adapted into the film The Theory of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne, who played the physicist, and Felicity Jones, who played his ex-wife Jane. "I thought Eddie Redmayne portrayed me very well," Hawking said in a video interview. "At times, I thought it was me." 14 of 14 Stephen Hawking Dies Chris Williamson/Getty Images On March 14, 2018, Hawking's family revealed the world-renowned physicist died at age 76. "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today," his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, with first wife Jane, said in the statement. "He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years," the statement continued. "His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humor inspired people across the world."