Barbara Jones

Dr. Barbara Jones is currently a Senior Researcher in IBM Quantum, Quantum Applications group, at IBM Research Almaden in San Jose, California. Over the years at IBM she has been a manager of both experimental and theoretical groups, working on a number of areas both fundamental and more applied. She has also been a Consulting Professor at Stanford University in Physics and Applied Physics Departments, and supervised several Ph.D. students. Her long-term interests have involved theories of quantum interactions in molecular and atomic-scale magnetic systems, as well as physics applied to biological systems such as host/microbe interactions and cells.

Dr. Jones led a team in calculating the unexpected effects of magnetic atoms on metallic/insulating surfaces, as engineered and measured by Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Her interests of the last few years have regarded quantum computing, particularly simulating open quantum systems, quantum embedding, and error mitigation. She also has a dual interest in biophysics and modeling viral evolution and mutation, including the effects of viral therapeutics.

Dr. Jones is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She is a recipient of a TWIN Award (Tribute to Women in Industry). She is Chair of the Physics Section of the AAAS and past member of the Council of AAAS. She is past Chair of the APS Forum on Industrial Applications of Physics, the largest unit of the APS, as well as of the APS Division of Condensed Matter Physics. She is a member of the committee which wrote the most recent National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey of Materials, that appeared in March 2019, as well as a recent member of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academy of Science. Dr. Jones is an Honorary Member of the Aspen Center for Physics, serves on journal editorial boards and university science advisory committees, and organizes international conferences in the U.S. and Europe.

Chair and Founder of the APS/IBM Research Internships for Undergraduate Women and Under-represented Minorities, member and past Chair of the APS’s Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (1999-2002), and past Chair of the IBM Almaden Diversity Council, she is strongly interested in promoting opportunities in science and math for all students.