Saul Durand

At age 32, Saul Durand feels like he's missed his window to make his great contribution to science. Even though he won the LeRoy Apker Award from the American Physical Society — which recognizes outstanding achievement in physics by an undergraduate student — he feels like he's on the periphery compared to some of his closest friends in the Oxford Five. Known amongst his peers as Vera's favorite student, he specializes in theoretical physics and has chosen to stay behind to work in her lab rather than run his own. He and Auggie share a complicated romantic history, and even now she wishes he'd stop squandering his potential, hiding behind one-night-stands and smoking pot. Despite always being good at physics, he's never loved it. But his natural ability to problem solve could end up being more important than he realizes.