Mathematician, codebreaker, Professor, hedge fund pioneer, & philanthropist Jim Simons makes his first-ever podcast appearance on this episode of INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE with UC San Diego Professor Brian Keating. Learn about Chern-Simons theory, leadership lessons, hedge funds, and a dedication to serve the world through basic research from a master. It is truly a delight to share with you the more personal side of the man who’s been called The World’s Smartest Billionaire: https://youtu.be/gjVDqfUhXOY In this interview, we discuss heroes, fatherhood, leadership and the art of math.  Jim Simons earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Berkeley at the age of 23. He worked as a mathematician for the NSA and as a professor and department chair at Stony Brook University. Simons earned billions after founding the hedge fund firm Renaissance Technologies. He co-founded the Simons Foundation with his wife Marilyn in 1994 to advance scientific research. The foundation provided funding for the Simons Observatory, a telescope array being built in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile https://simonsobservatory.org/ Simons also founded Math For America in 2004 to facilitate better math education.Watch a TED interview with Jim Simons https://youtu.be/U5kIdtMJGc8 Learn about the Simons Observatory, including the Simons-National Society of Black Physicists Scholars Program (SNSP) https://simonsobservatory.org/snsp.php Learn more about the Simons Foundation on the web: https://www.simonsfoundation.orgfollow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonsFdnPlease subscribe, rate, and review the INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE Podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-impossible/id1169885840?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices