Off

Off

Off

Off

Congratulations to Physics Professor and JILA fellow Margaret Murnane, who has recently been elected to the prestigious American Philosophical Society (APS).

Murnane is the fourth CU-Boulder faculty member to be elected to APS. There were 34 people worldwide elected in 2015 to the society, which was founded in 1743 in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin, who later became its first president.

Murnane is known internationally for her  -- much of it with her husband and colleague, JILA fellow and CU-Boulder physics Professor Henry Kapteyn -- which includes conducting optical and X-ray science using tabletop light sources. The group develops new ultrafast laser and coherent X-ray sources as part of its research in optical sciences, using the light sources for new experiments in physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering. Ultrafast coherent X-ray beams are expected to be indispensable tools for scientists in developing practical nanoscale machines.

Murnane is the recipient of dozens of national and international awards. She has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship or “genius grant” in 2000. Murnane and Kapteyn shared the 2010 R.W. Wood Prize from the Optical Society of America.

View the CU-Boulder .

Off

Congratulations to Physics Professor and JILA Fellow Deborah Jin, who earned the prestigious 2014 Isaac Newton Medal by the Institute of Physics. The award was announced on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

The Institute of Physics is a leading international scientific society headquartered in London. The Isaac Newton award is given annually to a physicist, regardless of subject area, background or nationality, for outstanding contributions to physics. According to their release, the IOP recognized Jin for her experimental work in laser cooling atoms, which, "has led to the practical realisation of universal laws that underpin fundamental quantum behaviour". 

Professor Jin's work focuses on ultracold trapped atoms experiments, which include laser cooling, magnetic trapping, and evaporative cooling to reach temperatures below one microKelvin, where quantum statistics dominate the behavior of atoms.

Off

Congratulations to Physics Professor and JILA Fellow Deborah Jin, who earned the prestigious 2014 Isaac Newton Medal by the Institute of Physics. The award was announced on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

The Institute of Physics is a leading international scientific society headquartered in London. The Isaac Newton award is given annually to a physicist, regardless of subject area, background or nationality, for outstanding contributions to physics. According to their release, the IOP recognized Jin for her experimental work in laser cooling atoms, which, "has led to the practical realisation of universal laws that underpin fundamental quantum behaviour". 

Professor Jin's work focuses on ultracold trapped atoms experiments, which include laser cooling, magnetic trapping, and evaporative cooling to reach temperatures below one microKelvin, where quantum statistics dominate the behavior of atoms.

<>

Off

Ana Maria is a Research Assistant Professor in Physics and a Fellow of JILA. She was selected by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation due to her groundbreaking work in theoretical atomic, molecular and optical physics. MacArthur Fellowships are awarded across all fields  "to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future." The fellowship includes a no-strings-attached award of $625,000, paid out over five years.

Ana Maria joins physics faculty members Charles Archambeau, Margaret Murnane and Deborah Jin, who were awarded MacArthur Fellowships in 1990, 2000, 2004, respectively. There have been only 25 physicists chosen for this prestigious award since 1981. Marcus Greiner at Harvard, who worked as a postdoc at JILA with Debbie Jin, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2011.

The American Physical Society's Maria Goeppert Mayer Award recognizes outstanding Achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career. According to the APS , Rey was selected for this prestigious award, "for her pioneering research on developing fundamental understanding and control of novel quantum systems and finding applications for a wide range of scientific fields including quantum metrology and emerging interface between AMO, condensed matter, and quantum information science."

Ana Maria Rey joins CU Professors and JILA Fellows Margaret Murnane and Debbie Jin, who received this honor in 1997 and 2002, respectively.

For more information about the MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, view their .

View the University of Colorado .

Off

Congratulations to Professor Margaret Murnane, who has been awarded the prestigious RDS Irish Times Boyle Medal for Scientific Excellence. Murnane earned the award, "for her pioneering work which has transformed the field of ultrafast laser and x-ray science."

Inaugurated in 1899, the Boyle Medal, Ireland's premier science award, continues to recognise scientific research of exceptional merit and since its inception has been awarded to 38 distinguished scientists, including George Johnstone Stoney (1899), John Joly (1911), Garret A. FitzGerald (2005) and Luke O'Neill (2009).

The Boyle Medal is awarded biennially - alternating between scientists based in Ireland, and those based abroad.

According to the news release, "Professor Murnane's distinguished work has focused on the development of lasers which can operate at the fundamental limits of speed and stability. She designed the first laser able to pulse in the low trillionths of a second range (10 femtoseconds) which allows time almost to be halted to capture a freeze-frame view of the world. She has also developed a tabletop x-ray laser using very short laser pulses to generate coherent beams of x-rays. The output x-ray beam has all the directed properties of a laser - rather than the incoherent, light bulb-like, properties of the x-ray tubes used in science, medicine and security."

Professor Murnane said "I am deeply grateful to be honoured with this award. I am certain that I would not be where I am today without the love for learning instilled through the strong education I received in Ireland through my primary, secondary and University years. It is undoubtedly this foundation which has given me the confidence to go out and put my stamp on the world. It makes it even more significant for me to learn that I am only the second female Boyle Medal Laureate in the Medal's history."

Professor Murnane was born in Limerick and is a graduate of University College Cork, where she achieved B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in physics.

<>

Off

Congratulations to Professor Jun Ye for being elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The news was announced by the NAS on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

Professor Ye joins 72 new members and 18 foreign associates. Ye and his scientific colleagues were recognized for their distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research.

Jun Ye is a Professor Adjoint in Physics, a Fellow of JILA and a NIST Fellow. His research is focused in three related areas: laser-based atomic clocks, chemistry of cold and ultracold molecules, and precision laser spectroscopy.

<>

Off