News: Faculty

The 2022 Darwin-Wallace Medal from The Linnean Society of London has been awarded to University of Chicago paleobiologist David Jablonski in honor of his making major advances in evolutionary science.

Prof. Lek-Heng Lim is among the 180 Guggenheim fellows selected in this year’s class from nearly 2,500 applicants. He is recognized for introducing high-level algebra, geometry and topology to applied mathematics. In particular, he works with a type of mathematical object called a tensor and how the concept can be used in computational mathematics and the information sciences.

On March 31, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) announced that Lek-Heng Lim, Professor of the Department of Statistics, Computational and Applied Mathematics Initiative, and the College, is among 26 members to be honored in the 2022 Class of SIAM Fellows.

A top flight of architects and structural engineers will present public lectures on some of the most innovative work being done in contemporary structural design as part of a unique physics undergraduate course offered this Spring Quarter at the University of Chicago, Physics & Contemporary Architecture (PHSC11800) taught by Professors Sid Nagel and Heinrich Jaeger. Enrolled undergraduate students, as well as the interested public, can join online for free Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. CST.

The Physical Sciences Division has many programs ranked highly in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report top science graduate schools rankings.

A new study introduces a breakthrough in making nanocrystals function together electronically. The research led by Prof. Dmitri Talapin, Department of Chemistry, may open the doors to future devices with new abilities.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science Junchen Jiang received the NSF CAREER Award to study how individual preferences and machine learning can help automatically optimize video quality while also conserving valuable bandwidth. The award, the NSF’s most prestigious for early-career faculty, was one of six awarded to UChicago CS faculty during the 2021-22 cycle.

Famed astrophysicist Eugene Parker, who died March 15, “touched” the sun and the hearts of the Homewood-Flossmoor community, where he lived for more than 50 years. The Chicago Tribune memorializes Parker, recalling his humble dedication to area causes, to nature and to his neighbors.

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to catch and study neutrinos at a local nuclear reactor, treat cancer with nanodevices made out of DNA, conduct Great Lakes sampling efforts under winter conditions, and recreate conditions in giant galaxy clusters with lasers.

In this AIP Oral History, Walter Massey, chairman of the board of the Giant Magellan Telescope, former UChicago professor and now advisor and trustee emeritus, describes his childhood in segregated Mississippi, his drive towards championing scientific discovery, and contributions across civil rights, science policy, and higher education. 

Prof. Scott Snyder, Department of Chemistry, has been selected for the 2022 Cottrell STAR Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, cited as “an accomplished organic chemist and pedagogical innovator committed to the education of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students beyond his own lab and classroom.”

The Data Science Institute at UChicago is part of a grant of $4.6M in funding delivered by the Mastercard Impact Fund for data.org’s Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) that will support the creation of a consortium of diverse higher education partners to amplify social impact through data science.

Prof. Emeritus James W. Truran, who helped lay the foundations for our understanding of how virtually all elements of the universe were created in stars and stellar explosions, died March 5. He was 81.

Great Lakes scientists, including some from the University of Chicago, recently took part in the first coordinated sampling effort of the lakes in winter to understand what disappearing ice might mean for one of the largest freshwater systems on the planet.

Rebecca Maxcy, director of The Financial Education Initiative at UChicago, comments on access and quality in personal finance instruction in high schools. Her group’s tool kit for evaluation of instructional materials and classroom advocacy is recommended.