News: Faculty Awards

2026

Laura Gagliardi awarded the 2027 Henry H. Storch Award in energy chemistry

September 14, 2026

Prof. Laura Gagliardi earned the 2027 Henry H. Storch Award in Energy Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The American Chemical Society honor recognizes Gagliardi's pioneering work and its application to catalyst design, carbon capture, and the global energy transition.


When artificial intelligence meets physics beneath the French-Swiss border

August 31, 2026

The CERN Large Hadron Collider

Deep beneath the French-Swiss border, the Large Hadron Collider sends protons crashing together at extraordinary speeds, allowing scientists to study the fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces that shape the universe. Those collisions help researchers investigate questions ranging from the behavior of subatomic particles to the possibility of new physics beyond what is currently known.


ACS announces 2027 national award winners

August 31, 2026

Laura Gagliardi (L) and Mark Levin

Laura Gagliardi and Mark Levin acknowledged for their outstanding achievements in chemistry across various fields.


Fields Medal wins spotlight new generation of Chinese scientists rising globally

August 24, 2026

Chinese mathematician Hong Wang and Yu Deng. Photo courtesy of IMU

The historic Fields Medal victories of two Peking University alumni have drawn attention to a wider generation of young Chinese scientists and technology entrepreneurs making their mark on the global stage.


Mark Levin wins 2027 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award

August 3, 2026

Mark-Levin

Congratulations to Professor Mark Levin, who has received a 2027 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award For Organic Synthesis!


Daniil Rudenko awarded fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study

July 31, 2026

Daniil Rudenko

Assistant Professor Daniil Rudenko was awarded a fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in the School of Mathematics for the 2026–27 academic year. This prestigious membership allows for focused research and the free and open exchange of ideas among an international community of scholars at one of the foremost centers for intellectual inquiry.


Yu Deng awarded Fields Medal: top news stories

July 30, 2026

Yu Deng

On Thursday, July 23, mathematics professor Yu Deng was awarded the Fields Medal—the highest honor in mathematics. Deng, together with fellow honoree Hong Wang, became the first citizens of the People’s Republic of China to receive the award in its 90-year history. Read more about this historic win.


International Congress of Mathematicians: Opening Ceremony

July 23, 2026

Yu Deng as a child playing Go

Watch Yu Deng accept the Fields Medal and a video featuring his life and work.


Amid life’s chaos, a meticulous mathematician finds stability

July 23, 2026

Yu Deng

Before he won a Fields Medal for his pioneering work balancing randomness and order, Yu Deng had to achieve equilibrium in his own life.


Yu Deng predicts the actions of the whole from its tiniest parts

July 23, 2026

Yu Deng

Dr. Deng, a mathematics professor at the University of Chicago, received a Fields Medal for his work on an equation describing fluid mechanics.


UChicago Prof. Yu Deng receives Fields Medal, highest honor in mathematics

July 23, 2026

Yu Deng

University mathematician recognized for cracking 125-year-old challenge to ground physics in mathematics.
 


Three PSD faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships in July 2026

July 1, 2026

PSD against a white and turquoise background

Thirteen members of the University of Chicago faculty, including three from the Physical Sciences Division, have received distinguished service professorships or named professorships, effective July 1.


PSD faculty earn NSF CAREER Awards

June 2, 2026

NSF CAREER Awards

Congratulations to the PSD faculty members who have received NSF CAREER Awards. According to the NSF, the prestigious CAREER award supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
 


Seeing what matters: UChicago’s Alex Kale receives NSF Early Career Award for rethinking data visualization ethics

June 1, 2026

An illustration of a privacy dilemma that requires using visualization as a disclosure mechanism.

UChicago’s Alex Kale receives the Early CAREER Award for advancing ethical and practical standards in data visualization, empowering creators and audiences to better interpret what charts reveal and what they conceal.


Frank Calegari and Young-Kee Kim elected to Royal Society

May 27, 2026

The Royal Society

Frank Calegari, professor and associate chair of the Department of Mathematics, and Young-Kee Kim, the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute, have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.