The American Physical Society has chosen Prof. Protik “Tiku” Majumder as the 2017 recipient of its Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution. The APS cited Majumder “for contributions to the precision measurement of atomic properties, and sustained, inspirational mentorship of undergraduate researchers.” In addition to his teaching and research, Prof. Majumder serves as more »

We are excited to welcome two new assistant professors to the Department of Physics. Prof. Catherine Kealhofer earned her A.B. from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University. She joins us from a postdoctoral research position at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, where she developed terahertz-based pulse more »

Professor of Physics Sarah Bolton began her career in this department in 1995. She quickly became a talented and respected teacher, while building a research laboratory using an ultrafast laser to study the properties of nanostructured materials. Over the years she advised a dozen honors thesis students and taught hundreds of grateful students. From 2010 more »

Last year 11 Ephs, this year 19 Ephs…! Nineteen Williams physicists attended the 2016 American Physical Society Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Meeting (DAMOP) in Providence, RI.  DAMOP is one of the largest and most important annual physics conferences. Pictured left to right:  Ariel Silbert ’16 (researcher, e4sciences), Josh Grossman ’96 (professor, St. Mary’s College, more »

The American Society for Engineering Education selected physics alumnus Joseph Iafrate ’14 for a 2016 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship.  This highly competitive national fellowship covers the cost of three years of graduate study.  Joe is a Ph.D. candidate in applied physics at the University of Michigan.  His research explores the spin dynamics more »

Congratulations to physics major Will Kirby ’17 who was named a 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. The U.S. Congress established this highly competitive national scholarship “to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering and to foster excellence in those fields.” It is widely recognized as a top honor for more »

The National Science Foundation awarded 2016 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships to two physics alumni, Benjamin Augenbraun ’15 and Julia Cline ’15. Ben is pursuing graduate study in physics at Harvard University.  At Williams he conducted research in Prof. Tiku Majumder’s lab, producing an honors thesis that won the American Physical Society LeRoy Apker Award for research by more »

Eleven Williams physicists attended the 2015 American Physical Society Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Meeting (DAMOP) in Columbus, OH.  DAMOP is one of the largest and most important annual physics conferences. Pictured left to right:  Ben Augenbraun ’15 (Harvard U.), Justin Brown ’05 (Draper Lab), Paul Hess ’08 (U. Maryland), Collin Bruzewicz ’05 (MIT Lincoln Lab), Prof. Charlie more »

The National Science Foundation awarded Graduate Research Fellowships to four recent Williams College physics majors or astrophysics majors.  Allen Davis ’14 is studying astronomy at Yale University.  Cristina Knapp ’13 is studying condensed matter physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara.  Gabe Lewis ’13 is studying glaciology at Dartmouth College.  Alice Sady ’13 is studying particle more »

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Williams College physics professor Protik Majumder a 3-year, $347,000 grant to continue his precise spectroscopic studies of atoms aimed ultimately at testing the Standard Model of particle physics. Majumder’s project, “High-Precision Atomic Structure Measurements and Tests of Fundamental Physics in Group IIIA Atoms”, will measure the properties of more »

The National Science Foundation awarded a 2014 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to physics alumna Tori Borish ’12, who is a research student in the laboratory of Anton Zeilinger at the University of Vienna, Austria.  Tori plans to enter the PhD program in physics at Stanford University in fall 2014. Physics alumni Joel Clemmer ’12, Nathan more »

Congratulations to physics major Ben Augenbraun ’15 who was named a 2014 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.  The U.S. Congress established this highly competitive national scholarship “to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering and to foster excellence in those fields.”  It is widely recognized as a top honor for more »

The American Physical Society selected Nathan Schine ’13 as a finalist for the 2013 LeRoy Apker Award. This national award is the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the United States. Nathan worked with Prof. Tiku Majumder and wrote a thesis titled “A Precise Measurement of the Stark Shift in the Indium 5P1/2 –> more »

At this year’s American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in Bozeman, Montana, astrophysics major Muzhou Lu ’13 won the Solar Physics Division (SPD) poster competition for his presentation, “Observations and Modeling of Solar Coronal Structures Using High-Resolution Eclipse Images and Space-based Telescopes with Wide Field-of-View.”  Muzhou worked with Prof. Pasachoff in the Astronomy Department and traveled to observe more »

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already made enormous progress pushing forward the high energy frontier. During the coming years, the LHC will continue to probe some of the deepest mysteries in particle physics, including the origin of elementary particle masses and the nature of dark matter. In his research, Professor Tucker-Smith studies extensions of more »

The American Physical Society selected Chris Chudzicki ’10 as one of two winners of the 2010 LeRoy Apker Award, the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the U.S.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $233,186 grant to Prof. Frederick Strauch to support his research on quantum systems.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $285,000 grant to Prof. Tiku Majumder for his project titled “Precise Atomic Structure Measurements and Tests of Fundamental Physics in Group IIIA Atoms.”

At Fall Convocation the College awarded Daniel Kleppner ’53 a Bicentennial Medal, which honors Williams alumni for distinguished accomplishment in any field.

We welcome President Falk and Michele Rech, say goodbye to Barb Swanson, and acknowledge additional administrative responsibilities for Sarah Bolton and Tiku Majumder.

A new documentary film titled “The Quantum Tamers: Revealing Our Weird and Wired Future” features Prof. Bill Wootters among other renowned scientists.

Physics majors Christopher Chudzicki ’10 and Scott Olesen ’10 were named 2009 Barry M. Goldwater Scholars, a top honor for undergraduate science students in the United States.

The American Physical Society selected Shelby Kimmel ’08 as a finalist for the 2008 LeRoy Apker Award, the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the U.S.

The American Physical Society (APS) has elected Prof. Kevin Jones and Prof. Tiku Majumder to the status of Fellow.

The National Science Foundation awarded Aalberts a $260,819 grant to continue research through 2010 on pseudoknot structures of RNA molecules and their frequency.

The National Institute of Health awarded a grant of $220,479 to further Prof. Aalberts’ work: “Binding and Splicing mRNA.”

The American Physical Society has announced that Prof. Bill Wootters is the 2007 recipient of its Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution.

Cambridge University Press recently released “Protecting Information: From Classical Error Correction to Quantum Cryptography” by Mathematics professor Susan Loepp and Physics professor Bill Wootters.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $229,500 research grant to Prof. Tiku Majumder to continue his high-precision spectroscopic study of thallium and other heavy elements.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to Prof. David Tucker-Smith to support his research in elementary particle theory.

The National Science Foundation awarded a 2006 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to astrophysics alumna Lissa Ong ’04, and honorable mentions to physics alums Laura Effinger-Dean ’06, Christopher Holmes ’03, and Sarah Iams ’04.

The 8th International Conference on Quantum Computation, Measurement, and Computing will honor Prof. Bill Wootters with the 2006 International Quantum Communications Award.

The American Physical Society selected Nathan Hodas ’04 as one of two winners of the 2004 LeRoy Apker Award, the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the U.S.

The National Institutes of Health awarded a $155,183 grant to support Prof. Daniel Aalberts’ research on splicing, folding and stretching nucleic acids.

Robert F. Engle has won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Economics for discovering statistical methods for “analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility.”

Williams College has received a $12.6 million gift in honor of former physics professor and department chair William Edward McElfresh.

The National Science Foundation awarded research grants to Prof. Sarah Bolton and Prof. Tiku Majumder.

The American Physical Society chose S. Charles Doret ’02 as a winner of the 2002 LeRoy Apker Award, the highest national honor for physics research by an undergraduate student.

Prof. Kevin Jones ’77 and his students Dave Ticehurst ’04 and Jeff Garland ’03 appear in an article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education describing the tutorial program at Williams College.

The American Physical Society (APS) has elected Prof. Bill Wootters to the status of Fellow for his “contributions on the foundations of quantum mechanics and groundbreaking work in quantum information and communications theory.”

The American Physical Society selected Brian Gerke ’99 as a winner of the LeRoy Apker Award, recognizing “exceptional achievements in physics research by undergraduate students.”

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded a 1999-2001 Precision Measurement Grant to Prof. Tiku Majumder of the Department of Physics.