Stephen Hawking Expected to Make Full Recovery: Family

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The family of famous mathematician and physicist Stephen Hawking expects him to make a full recovery from a chest infection that forced him into the hospital, officials at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom said Tuesday.

Hawking, 67, was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital Monday and is being kept under observation.

"He is comfortable, and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," said a Cambridge University statement, the Associated Press reported. But there's no word on whether Hawking's condition had improved or whether the family was simply expressing its hopes for improvement.

The hospital declined to comment on Hawking's condition and referred all calls to the university, the AP reported.

Hawking, who's been suffering a chest infection for several weeks, was 21 when he was diagnosed with the incurable degenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He's been almost entirely paralyzed for years and uses a finger-activated electronic voice synthesizer to communicate.