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Department of Physics Annual Student Awardsupdated 02/29/2012
UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS |
GRADUATE AWARDS |
Undergraduate Awards
The following undergraduate award recipients for the 2010-11 academic year were announced in May 2011.
- The Barrett Prize
Ashley Perko SB '11The Barrett Prize
The award, established by students, friends, relatives and colleagues of the late Professor Alan Barrett, honors his outstanding influence in the education of physicists and his fundamental contributions to the science and technology of astrophysics. A $1000 prize is awarded annually to a senior undergraduate or graduate in Astrophysics.
The 2011 Barrett Prize Winner - Ashley Perko SB '11
Thesis supervisor: Max TegmarkPast Barrett Prize Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Ashley Perko 2010 William Throwe 2009 Josiah Schwab 2008 J. Colin Hill 2007 Tucker A. Jones 2006 Emily M. Levesque 2005 Svetlin V. Tassev 2004 Laura A. Lopez 2003 Stefan W. Ballmer 2002 Joshua M. Lapan 2001 C. Adam Reynolds 2000 Jessica Lackey 1999 Eric B. Ford 1998 Edmund Mun Choong Kong 1997 James Kiger 1996 Matias Zaldarriaga 1995 Eugene Chiang 1994 Craig Weigert 1993 Uros Seljak 1992 Samuel Conner - The Malcolm Cotton Brown Award
Emma Tolley SB '11The Malcolm Cotton Brown Award
Awarded to a senior of high academic standing in physics who plans to pursue graduate study in experimental physics. Given in memory of Lt. Malcolm Cotton Brown, Royal Air Force, who was killed in service on July 23, 1918. The fund currently provides a prize of $1,000.
The 2011 Malcolm Cotton Brown Award Winner - Emma Tolley SB '11
Thesis supervisor: Richard Milner and Douglas HasellPast Cotton Brown Award Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Emma Tolley 2010 Albert Lee 2009 Robert Moffat 2008 Ruth Shewmon 2007 Ming Yi 2006 Huanqian Loh 2005 David Lopez Mateos 2004 Zilong Chen 2003 Alexander D. Wissner-Gross 2002 Joshua M. Thompson 2001 Margaret W. Pan - The Philip Morse Memorial Award
Jaime Varela SB '11 and David Ramirez SB '11The Philip Morse Memorial Award
Awarded to a senior of high academic standing in physics who plans to pursue graduate study in physics. Given in memory of Philip Morse, MIT Professor of Physics, one of the renowned physicists of the 20th century, whose contributions spanned from basic physics to engineering. The fund currently provides a prize of $1,000.
The 2011 Philip Morse Memorial Award- David Ramirez SB '11
Thesis supervisors: Marin Soljačić and Steven Johnson
- Jaime Varela SB '11
Thesis supervisor: Steven Johnson
Past Philip Morse Memorial Award Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 David Ramirez Jaime Varela 2010 Achilleas Porfyriadis 2009 Barry Bradlyn 2008 Thaned Pruttivarasin 2007 Tongyan Lin 2006 Philip J. Richerme 2005 Alan M. Dunn 2004 Onsi Fakhouri 2003 Philip C. Schuster 2002 2001 Aram W. Harrow - David Ramirez SB '11
- The Joel Matthew Orloff Award
(L to R) Raghu Mahajan SB '11, Yan Zhu, SB '12, Nathaniel Thomas SB '11, Fangfei Shen SB '11, and Ken Van Tilburg SB '11. Not pictured: Joan C. SmithThe Joel Matthew Orloff Award
The Joel Matthew Orloff Awards were established by Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Orloff in memory of their son Joel, a physics major, who died in an automobile accident shortly after graduation from MIT in 1978. One thousand dollars is awarded to each of several physics majors in the following three categories:
- Scholarship: Given to the student with the highest GPA in physics courses and, if a tie, the highest overall GPA.
- Research: Given to the student with the most outstanding senior thesis.
- Service: Given to the student with the most outstanding service to the department, Institute, or community.
The 2011 Joel Matthew Orloff Award Winners
- Scholarship
- Raghu Mahajan SB '11 - Thesis supervisor: Allan Adams
- Research
- Ken Van Tilburg SB '11 - Thesis supervisor: Jesse Thaler
- Service:
- Fangfei Shen SB '11
- Joan C. Smith SB '12
- Nathaniel Thomas SB '11
- Yan Zhu SB '12
Past Orloff Winners
YEAR RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP SERVICE 2011 Ken Van Tilburg Raghu Mahajan Fangfei Shen Joan C. Smith Nathaniel Thomas Yan Zhu 2010 John Sebastian Pineda William Throwe Sara Campbell Sukrit Ranjan 2009 Vladimir Rosenhaus Hyun Kim Anjali Tripathi Nantania Antler 2008 Yeming Shi Ziliang Lin J. Colin Hill 2007 Anna K. Labno Widagdo Setiawan Zachary D. Wissner-Gross 2006 Emily M. Levesque Patrick S. Varilly Anat Burger Alejandro Rodriguez 2005 Jeffrey C. Falkenbach Seth E. Dorfman Susanna M. Thon 2004 Yuk Yan Lam Michael J. Mortonson Daniel Garcia Laura A. Lopez 2003 Jeffrey B. Brock David B. Starr Terri M. Yu 2002 Stephan B. Gromell Abhinav Kumar Teresa A. Fazio 2001 Till Rosenband John B. Hough Bilge Demirkoz 2000 Mihai Ibanescu Dawen Choy Rafael Dinner Daniel Dwyer Humberto Valdes Gabriel Rockefeller 1999 Eric B. Ford Jeffrey C. Gore Raeghan M. Byrne Tanya Zelevinsky 1998 Anuranjita Tewary Jeffrey Bowers 1997 Anna Lopatnikova Iosif L.R. Bena Evan Fortunato Hoko Kusumoto 1996 Marin Soljačić Tairan Wang Christopher Drew Yun Song Eugene Shuster 1995 Fernando Broner Steven Johnson Teresa Lau Eugene Chang Eliot Quataert 1994 Jennifer Mills Dexter Mootoo 1993 Eugene Chiang 1992 Kevin Fahey 1991 Bryan Smith 1990 Michael McDermott Joel Phillips 1989 Deborah Kuchnir 1988 Jason Crain 1987 Christopher Carone 1986 Mark Wang 1985 Thomas Junk 1984 Dinh Le 1983 Raymond Goldstein 1982 Mark Templer - The 2011 Sigma Pi Sigma Inductees
The 2011 Sigma Pi Sigma inductees with Ed BertschingerThe 2011 Sigma Pi Sigma Inductees
Christopher Boyce Erik L. Chen Linda Xinlin Chen Yu-Ju Chiu George Coss Robin Deits Lin Fei Peter Iannucci Raghu Mahajan Jonathan Mailoa Eric Marion Katelyn Milkowski Todd Mooring Ashley Perko David Ramirez Michael Setrin Jacob Sharpe Fangfei Shen Claudia Tenen Philip Tynan William Vega-Brown - The 2011 Phi Beta Kappa Inductees
The 2011 Phi Beta Kappa inductees with Ed BertschingerThe 2011 Phi Beta Kappa Inductees
Christopher Boyce Linda Xinlin Chen Yu-Ju Chiu George Coss Robin Deits Lin Fei Pangus Ho Peter Iannucci Raghu Mahajan Jonathan Mailoa Eric Marion Katelyn Milkowski Todd Mooring Ashley Perko David Ramirez Michael Setrin Fangfei Shen Claudia Tenen Philip Tynan William Vega-Brown -
Other Undergraduate Honors & Awards
- Christopher Boyce (SB '11, Chemical Engineering & Physics) was named a 2011 Gates Cambridge Scholar to support graduate study at the University of Cambridge.
- Linda Xinlin Chen (SB '12, Physics & Philosophy) was named a 2011 Burchard Scholar for demonstrating excellence in some aspect of the humanities, arts, and social sciences, as well as in science and engineering.
- Raghu Mahajan (SB ’11, Physics & Mathematics) was named a 2011 Gates Cambridge Scholar to support graduate study at the University of Cambridge.
- Nathaniel Thomas (SB '11, Physics & Mathematics) won a Marshall Scholarship to pursue graduate study in mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
- Aditi Verma (SB '12, Nuclear Engineering & Physics) was named a 2011 Burchard Scholar for demonstrating excellence in some aspect of the humanities, arts, and social sciences, as well as in science and engineering.
Graduate Awards
The following graduate award recipients for the 2010-11 academic year were announced in September 2011.
- The Buechner Student Teaching Prize
The Buechner Student Teaching Prize
Awarded to a graduate student for outstanding contributions to the educational program of the Department during the past academic year. The $1,000 prize was established in 1987 by the late Mrs. Christina Buechner in memory of her husband Prof. William Buechner, who served as Physics department head from 1962-67.
The 2011 Buechner Student Teaching Prize Winner - Chester Chu (Condensed Matter Theory)
Thesis Supervisors: Eric Heller and Xiao-Gang WenPast Buechner Student Teaching Prize Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Chester Chu 2010 Arghavan Safavi-Naini 2009 Adrian Liu 2008 Paul Nerenberg 2007 Richard Ott 2006 Oliver Dial 2005 2004 Sebastian Franco 2003 Brice C. Smith 2002 Jeffrey Bowers James McBride 2001 Stephen Korbly 2000 Michael Hinczewski Nicholas Morgan David Pooley 1999 Kristin Burgess Rebecca Christianson 1998 Jamie Portsmouth Walter Rantner 1997 Andrew Berger 1996 Paul Westbrook 1995 Peter Yesley 1994 Neer Asherie 1993 Sheperd Doeleman 1992 Howard Sklar 1991 Michael Haggerty 1990 Roberta Brawer 1989 Juliana Hsu 1988 Jim Abbott Philipp Podsiadlowski 1987 Wayne Lewis Derin Sherman - The Martin Deutsch Student Award
The Martin Deutsch Student Award for Excellence in Experimental Physics
Awarded to a graduate student in the mid-course of research for study in any area of physics, with preference given to experimental physics. The award was created in honor of Professor Martin Deutsch's outstanding contributions to Nuclear Physics as an educator and researcher and currently carries a prize of $1,000.
The 2011 Martin Deutsch Student Award Winner - Ariel Sommer (Atomic Physics)
Thesis supervisor: Martin ZwierleinPast Martin Deutsch Student Award Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Ariel Sommer 2010 Monika Schleier-Smith 2009 Georgia Karagiorgi Andre Schirotzek 2008 Asher Kaboth 2007 Thomas Corbitt 2006 Gretchen K. Campbell 2005 Juan M. Pedraza Yong-Il Shin 2004 Adam S. Bolton Martin Zwierlein 2003 Aaron E. Leanhardt 2002 Lingyan Zhu 2001 Ivan Furic 2000 Ananth Chikkatur 1999 Shin Inouye 1998 1997 David Goldhaber-Gordon Young Lee 1996 1995 1994 Kendall Davis 1993 1992 Kevin Lee 1991 Alec Sandy 1990 1989 David Keith - The Henry Kendall Teaching Award
The Henry Kendall Teaching Award
Established in 2010 and named after Henry Kendall, 1990 Nobel Laureate and long-time MIT Physics faculty member, the Kendall Awards recognize graduate student teaching assistants whose performance has been significantly above what is expected of a TA. Two to four awards, each with an accompanying prize of $750, are given annually.
The 2011-12 Henry Kendall Teaching Award Winners
-
February 2012
- Tatiana Artemova – (Biophysics; thesis supervisor Jeff Gore) “for playing a huge role in the success of 8.591.”
- Adrian Liu – (Astrophysics; thesis supervisor Max Tegmark) “for his excellent contributions over several semesters to teaching quantum mechanics.”
- David Mross – (Theoretical Condensed Matter; thesis supervisor Senthil Todadri) “for going beyond the call of duty in 8.231.”
- Anjan Soumyanarayanan – (Experimental Condensed Matter; thesis supervisors Jenny Hoffman and Young Lee) “for making the teaching team in his section of 8.01 the best ever.”
- Phillip Zukin – (Astrophysics; thesis supervisor Ed Bertschinger) “for being a terrific, smart, dedicated and wise teacher in 8.02.”
Past Henry Kendall Teaching Award Winners
YEAR STUDENT COURSE/YEAR 2011-12 Tatiana Artemova 8.591 Fall 2011 Adrian Liu 8.942 Fall 2011 David Mross 8.231 Fall 2011 Anjan Soumyanarayanan 8.01 Fall 2011 Phillip Zukin 8.02 Fall 2011 Byron Drury 8.311 Spring 2011 Jinrong Lin 8.022 Spring 2011 Leo Stein 8.901 Spring 2011 2010-11 Francesco D’Eramo 8.09 Fall 2010 Nan Gu 8.012 Fall 2010 Duncan Ralph 8.13 Fall 2010 Phillip Zukin 8.21 Fall 2010 David Mross 8.20 IAP 2010, 8.311 Spring 2010 Obioma Ohia 8.02 Spring 2010 Richard Ott 8.14 Spring 2010 2009-10 Burak Alver 8.13 Fall 2009 Nabil Iqbal 8.02 Fall 2009 Sun Joon (Daniel) Park 8.321 Fall 2009 Robyn Sanderson 8.01 Fall 2009 - The Andrew M. Lockett III Memorial Fund Award
The Andrew M. Lockett III Memorial Fund Award
Awarded to a graduate student in theoretical physics, with preference given to students from Los Alamos, NM, and New Orleans, LA. The award currently carries a prize of $1,000. The award was established by Mrs. Lucille Lockett Stone in memory of her husband, Dr. Andrew M. Lockett, who received his Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1954.
The 2011 Andrew M. Lockett III Memorial Fund Award Winners - Xie Chen (Atomic Physics)
Thesis supervisors: Isaac Chuang and Xiao-Gang WenPast Andrew M. Lockett III Memorial Fund Award Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Xie Chen 2010 Nabil Iqbal 2009 Wing-Ho Ko Sergey Syritsyn 2008 Michael Kiermaier 2007 2006 Jessie Shelton 2005 David Vegh 2004 Michael A. Levin 2003 Andrew M. Childs 2002 Sebastian Franco 2001 Walter Rantner 2000 Bo Feng 1999 Leonardo Rastelli 1998 1997 Matthew Hastings 1996 Arthur Lee 1995 Ken Olum 1994 1993 1992 Catherine Trotter Wilson 1991 1990 Tomas Arias Jeffrey Grandy 1989 1988 Barrett Rogers 1987 Mark Needels - The Sergio Vazquez Prize
The Sergio Vazquez Prize
Established in memory of Sergio Vazquez, a graduate student in the Center for Theoretical Physics who was killed in an automobile accident on April 1, 1990, $1,000 to be awarded annually to a graduate student with preference for a student from an underrepresented sector of the population who had to overcome racial, physical or financial barriers.
The 2011 Sergio Vazquez Prize Winners
- Francesco D'Eramo (Theoretical Nuclear & Particle Physics)
Thesis supervisors: Hong Liu, Krishna Rajagopal, and Jesse Thaler - Mohammad Faghfoor Maghrebi (Theoretical Nuclear & Particle Physics)
Thesis supervisor: Mehran Kardar
Past Sergio Vazquez Prize Winners
YEAR STUDENT 2011 Francesco D'Eramo Mohammad Faghfoor Maghrebi 2010 Christopher Jones 2009 2008 Michael Ghebrebrhan 2007 2006 2005 Antonello Scardicchio 2004 2003 Qudsia Jabeen Ejaz 2002 Kimani Stancil 2001 Grum Teklamariam 2000 Darren Segall 1999 Raissa D'Souza 1998 1997 1996 Gillian Reynolds 1995 1994 1993 1992 Hector Jimenez-Gonzalez - Francesco D'Eramo (Theoretical Nuclear & Particle Physics)
-
Other Graduate Honors & Awards
- Alexei Bylinskii (Atomic Physics. Thesis supervisor: Vladan Vuletic) was awarded a National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Fellowship.
- Christopher Chudzicki (Condensed Matter Theory. Thesis supervisor: not yet determined) received the Leroy Apker Award of the American Physical Society.
- Katherine Deck (Astrophysics. Thesis supervisor: Matthew Holman) was awarded a 2011 National Science Foundation Fellowship.
- Benjamin Jones (Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics. Thesis supervisor: Janet Conrad) received a 2011 URA (Universities Research Association) Visiting Scholar Award from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
- Matthew Landreman (Plasma Physics. Thesis supervisor: Peter Catto) received the Graduate Student Poster Award at the 2010 Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference.
- Brian Munroe (Plasma Physics. Thesis supervisor: Richard Temkin) was the first-place Student Poster Award winner at the 2011 Particle Accelerator Conference.
- Eric Oelker (Astrophysics. Thesis supervisor: Nergis Mavalvala) was awarded a U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellowship.
- John Rutherford (Astrophysics. Thesis supervisor: Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano) was awarded a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.
- Kazuhiro Terao (Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics. Thesis supervisor: Janet Conrad) was awarded a Chateaubriand Fellowship.
- Sarah Trowbridge (SB '08, Physics) (Astrophysics. Thesis supervisor: Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano) was awarded a Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship by NASA; and as head coach of the MIT Women's Gymnastics Team, led them to win the 2011 NAIGC (National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs) national championship.
- Eugene Yurtsev (Biophysics. Thesis supervisor: Jeff Gore) was awarded a 2011 National Science Foundation Fellowship.

