Steven Jonathan Carlip is an American professor of physics at the University of California, Davis. He is known for his work on (2+1)-dimensional quantum gravity, the quantum gravitational basis of black hole thermodynamics, and causal dynamical triangulations. Carlip graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in physics in 1975. In 1987, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, with a Doctor of Philosophy under the direction of Bryce DeWitt. After a post-doctoral period at Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he has been teaching—since 1990—at the University of California, Davis.