Scientific Awards won by our Participants


This list is not complete and does not include the many awards our participants have received over the years. If you know of any awardees who should be listed, please contact ACP.

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2021

Gordon Baym, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research [Recognizes contributions of the highest level that advance our knowledge and understanding of the physical universe and in all its facets. It is intended to celebrate scientific inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge.]  Chosen for major discoveries in theoretical condensed matter and many-body physics, neutron star structure and composition, quark matter and quark-gluon plasma physics, and in atomic physics and ultracold quantum gases.

2020

Andrea Ghez, UCLA; Roger Penrose, University of Oxford Nobel Prize in Physics Chosen for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.

Pierre Ramond, University of Florida; Migual Virasoro, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento  Dirac Medal of the ICTP [Recognizes scientists who have made significant contributions to theoretical physics.]  Chosen for their pioneering contributions to the inception and formulation of string theory which introduced new Bosonic and Fermionic symmetries into physics.

2019

Elihu Abrahams, UCLA; Alexei Efros, University of Utah; and Boris Shklovskii, University of Minnesota  Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize [Recognizes outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics.] Chosen for pioneering research in the physics of disordered materials and hopping conductivity.

Daniel Freedman, Stanford University Special Breakthrough Prize [Recognizes individuals who have made profound contributions to human knowledge.] Chosen for the invention of supergravity, in which quantum variables are part of the description of the geometry of spacetime.

Hirosi Ooguri, Caltech and Kavli IPMU  Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon [Conferred by the Emperor of Japan to honor individuals with distinguished contributions to the arts and sciences.] Chosen for achievements in research in elementary particle physics.

Matthias Troyer, Microsoft Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics [Annual prize presented by the University of Hamburg and the Joachim Herz Foundation for outstanding research achievements in theoretical physics.] Chosen for his outstanding contributions to the development of the quantum Monte Carlo algorithms.

Karen Uhlenbeck, University of Texas Abel Prize [Annual prize recognizes pioneering scientific achievements in mathematics.] Chosen for her pioneering achievements in geometric partial differential equations, gauge theory and integrable systems, and for the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics.

2018


Paul M. Chaikin, New York University  Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize [Recognizes outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics.] Chosen for pioneering contributions that opened new directions in the field of soft condensed matter through innovative studies of colloids, polymers, and packing.

Clifford Johnson, University of Southern California  Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award [Recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics.] Chosen for his exemplary commitment to both frontier research and to publicizing the excitement of physics on television and in movies and books continues to contribute to the public knowledge and understanding of physics.

Ann Nelson, University of Washington  J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics [Recognizes outstanding achievement in particle theory] Chosen for her groundbreaking explorations of physics beyond the standard model of particle physics, including their seminal joint work on dynamical super-symmetry breaking, and for their innovative contributions to a broad range of topics, including new models of electroweak symmetry breaking, baryogenesis, and solutions to the strong charge parity problem.

Hirosi Ooguri, Caltech and Kavli IPMU  Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics [Annual prize presented by the University of Hamburg and the Joachim Herz Foundation for outstanding research achievements in theoretical physics. This is the first year the prize covers all areas of theoretical physics.] Chosen for his outstanding contributions to the topological string theory.

Subir Sachdev, Harvard University; Dam Thanh Son, University of Chicago; Xiao-Gang Wen, MIT  Dirac Medal of the ICTP  [Awarded annually since 1985 for outstanding contributions to theoretical physics.] Chosen for their independent contributions towards understanding novel phases in strongly interacting many-body systems, introducing original transdisciplinary techniques.

2017

Sally Dawson, Brookhaven National Laboratory; John F. Gunion, University of California Davis; Howard Haber, University of California Santa Cruz; Gordon Kane, University of Michigan  J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics [Recognizes outstanding achievement in particle theory] Chosen for instrumental contributions to the theory of the properties, reactions, and signatures of the Higgs boson

Alexei Kitaev, Caltech and Xiao-Gang Wen, MIT  Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize [Recognizes outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics.] Chosen for theories of topological order and its consequences in a broad range of physical systems.

Andy Millis, Columbia University  Hamburg Prize for Theoretical Physics [Annual prize presented by the University of Hamburg and the Joachim Herz Foundation for outstanding research achievements in theoretical physics.] Chosen for his groundbreaking research on the electronic properties of correlated materials.

2016

David Hitlin, Caltech  W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics [APS prize since 1985 to recognize outstanding achievements in experimental particle physics.] Chosen for leadership in the BABAR and Belle experiments, which established the violation of CP symmetry in B meson decay, and furthered our understanding of quark mixing and quantum chromodynamics.

Randy Hulet, Rice University  Davisson–Germer Prize [APS prize to recognize outstanding work in atomic physics or surface physics.] Chosen for pioneering investigations of quantum degenerate gasses and how they are affected by atomic interaction.

Clifford Johnson, University of Southern California  Simons Fellow in Theoretical Physics [The Fellows Programs provide funds to faculty for up to a semester long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations. Such leaves can increase creativity and provide intellectual stimulation.

Vassiliki Kalogera, Northwestern University  Hans A. Bethe Prize [Recognizes outstanding work in theory, experiment or observation in the areas of astrophysics, nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics, or closely related fields.] Chosen for key contributions to the study of the electromagnetic and gravitational wave radiation from binary compact objects, including the now–verified prediction that neutron star mergers produce short gamma–ray bursts that will be found in all galaxy types.

David Pines, UC Davis  Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize [APS award that recognizes a most outstanding contribution to physics.] Chosen for his contributions to our understanding of emergent behavior in quantum matter–plasmons, nuclear, celestial and unconventional superfluidity, heavy electron emergence, and for his effectiveness in communicating these discoveries and a new “emergent” paradigm to the broader scientific community.

Matthias Troyer, Microsoft  Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics [Annual APS prize recognizing outstanding achievement in computational physics research.] Chosen for pioneering numerical work in many seemingly intractable areas of quantum many body physics and for providing efficient sophisticated computer codes to the community.

2015

Alexei Kitaev, Caltech; Greg Moore, Rutgers; Nicholas Read, Yale  Dirac Medal of the ICTP [Awarded annually since 1985 for outstanding contributions to theoretical physics.] Chosen for their interdisciplinary contributions which introduced concepts of conformal field theory and non-abelian quasiparticle statistics in condensed matter systems and applications of these ideas to quantum computation.

Takaaki Kajita, University of Tokyo  Nobel Prize in Physics. Chosen for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.

Marc Kamionkowski, Johns Hopkins  Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics [APS and AAS award that recognizes accomplishments in theoretical astrophysics.] Chosen (with David Spergel) for outstanding contributions to the investigation of the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background, which have led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.

Pierre Ramond, University of Florida  Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics [Annual APS prize since 1959 recognizing outstanding publications in the field of mathematical physics.] Chosen for pioneering foundational discoveries in supersymmetry and superstring theory, in particular the dual model of fermions and the theory of the Kalb-Ramond field.

David Spergel, Princeton  Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics [APS and AAS award that recognizes accomplishments in theoretical astrophysics.] Chosen (with Marc Kamionkowski) for outstanding contributions to the investigation of the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background, which have led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.

Ian Spielman, National Institute of Standards and Technology  Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics [Recognizes outstanding research in atomic, molecular and optical physics by investigators who have held a PhD for 10 years or less.] Chosen for the development of quantum simulations using ultra–cold atoms, creation of synthetic electromagnetic fields, demonstration of synthetic spinorbit coupling, and applications to studying new physical systems.

2014

Michael Green, Cambridge University  Physics Frontiers Prize [Awarded annually by the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation, established in 2012 to recognize groundbreaking work in the field.] Chosen for work developing superstring theory in collaboration with John Schwarz between 1979 and 1986.

Greg Moore, Rutgers Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics [Annual APS prize since 1959 recognizing outstanding publications in the field of mathematical physics.] Chosen for eminent contributions to mathematical physics with a wide influence in many fields, ranging from string theory to supersymmetric gauge theory, conformal field theory, condensed matter physics, and four–manifold theory.

2013

John Schwarz, Caltech  Physics Frontiers Prize [Awarded annually by the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation, established in 2012 to recognize groundbreaking work in the field.] Chosen for work developing superstring theory in collaboration with Michael Green between 1979 and 1986.


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