I actually got emotional when I heard.
When I switched majors in college, I went from Econ to Physics and had a chance to go to CalTech (one of many awesome opportunities I messed up...as one does)
Hawking's work fascinated me and I still maintain my interest in Physics to this day.
I really hope when they finish the GUT, whoever wins the Nobel Prize, at the least, one is also awarded to Prof Hawking posthumously. Whoever finishes the GUT will have almost certainly stood on Hawking's shoulders.
(Grand Unified Theory - the theory which blends classic Newtonian physics with subatomic quantum physics into a singular theory where both reside in harmony),