President of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of the Basque Country, he holds a degree in Physical Sciences from the University of Navarra, a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (1976) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1977), and completed postdoctoral work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as well as a Nordita Fellowship in Lund and Copenhagen.

He is Honorary President of Jakiunde (Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters), President of the BERC Materials Physics Center (MPC), and Founding President of the Cooperative Research Center (CIC) nanoGUNE. He also served as Minister of Education and Culture and Official Spokesperson for the Basque Government (1980–1984).

A Full Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, he is also a member of the Milan Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. He has served as an Overseas Fellow at Churchill College and a Visiting Professor at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge. Furthermore, he is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was a member of the Trilateral Commission (1996–2015) and has served as a board advisor for IDOM, Mapfre Norte, and Bull España.

He is the author of over 400 publications in specialized books and peer-reviewed journals. Throughout his career, he has received numerous prestigious accolades, including the 1998 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, as well as the Munibe, Euskadi, Dupont, Prince of Viana Award for Culture, Max Planck Research Award, Iberdrola, Blas Cabrera National Research Award, Cifra Boada Science Communication Award, Sabino Arana, and Liberpress Camins awards.

His distinctions include the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, as well as Gold Medals from Navarra, Gipuzkoa, the Royal Spanish Society of Physics, the University of the Basque Country, and the City of San Sebastián.

He holds Honorary Doctorates (Doctor Honoris Causa) from the University of Valladolid, Public University of Navarra, Complutense University of Madrid, Aalto University, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (First University of the Americas), and the Autonomous University of Madrid, and was awarded a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree by the University of Cambridge (1998). In 1998, he was named Universal Basque of the Year and Favorite Son of the Town of Isaba. He is also an Honorary Member of the European Physical Society.