David Stilwell, PhD Student in Polymer Physics at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Assistants. David was selected for his outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching on UNC’s campus. Both students and faculty colleagues were enthusiastic in their praise of David’s commitment to the highest standards of teaching, which include, providing a rich and supportive environment for learning, and being an exceptionally positive role model for their careers. Congratulations, David!

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Congratulations, Duane Deardorff on being accepted to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster! As an approved candidate, Duane is now eligible to be matched to a host institution’s project at some point during his three-year tenure.

The Fulbright Specialist Program, a short-term complement to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, sends experienced U.S. faculty and professionals to serve as expert consultants and engage in education and/or training activities for a period of two to six weeks. Specialists are hosted by a range of overseas institutions, including institutions of higher education, government institutions, cultural institutions, non-governmental organizations, and medical institutions. Program Details

Joseph (Jo) Moscoso is one of the 62 graduate students nationwide selected for the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program’s 2024 Solicitation 1 cycle. Through world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities and resources at DOE National Laboratories, SCGSR allows graduate students to conduct part of their graduate thesis research in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. Jo will be working with Berkeley lab scientist Dr. André Walker-Loud and UC Berkeley Professor Raul Briceño!

Jo is a PhD candidate in the department of Physics and Astronomy working in Professor Amy Nicholson’s theoretical nuclear physics group. The group investigates how fundamental strongly interacting particles combine to become all of the matter that we observe. Through the use of computational methods and theoretical tools, calculations of properties of hadronic systems can be performed directly from the fundamental forces that govern the universe. These calculations are required to understand the majority of hadrons observed in nature, which exist in unstable states and decay at timescales of 10e-23 seconds, as well as the interactions between the strong, electromagnetic, and weak forces that occur in nuclear reactions.

Jo’s proposed research will be to improve the understanding of the interaction between nucleons, protons and neutrons, directly from the standard model of particle physics. This includes calculations of the two-nucleon system, which includes the deuteron, the lightest stable bound nuclear system, as well as the interaction of nucleons with the electroweak forces. A better understanding of nuclear interactions will enhance the discovery potential of experiments using nuclei as probes for new physics that could explain, for example, the abundance of matter over antimatter in the Universe.

For more information on the SCGSR program, visit: https://science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr.

We are so proud of our students, who were recently inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa college honorary society. Less than 1% of all college students qualify for acceptance.

Congratulations to: Patrick Steven McCaw, a junior with mathematics and statistics and analytics majors and a physics minor, of Pittsboro; Tyler James Britt, a senior with a physics major and a mathematics minor, of Fayetteville; Anya Kennedy Frazer, a junior with physics and music majors, of Raleigh; Ashwath Shastry Kapilavai, a senior with a physics major and data science and music minors, of Cary; Puja B. Nakkala, a senior with a neuroscience major and astronomy and chemistry minors, of Apex; and Sanath Reddy Yeduri, a senior with nutrition and physics majors and a chemistry minor, of Cary.

Phi Beta Kappa membership is open to undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences and professional degree programs who meet stringent eligibility requirements. A student who has completed 75 hours of coursework in the liberal arts and sciences with a GPA of 3.85 or better (on a 4-point scale) is eligible for membership. Also eligible is any student who has completed 105 hours of coursework in the liberal arts and sciences with a 3.75 GPA. Grades earned at other universities are not considered.

Dr. Tamara Branca, Physics and Astronomy Professor, is the newly elected Vice-Chair of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS). Dr. Branca begins her first term in office on January 1, 2025.  In subsequent years she will become Chair-Elect (and Program Chair for its annual meeting), Chair, and past Chair of the Section.

The American Physical Society (APS) was founded on May 20, 1899, to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy and international activities.  The Southeastern Section of APS was established in 1937 and encompasses the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Congratulations to Professor Yosuke Kanai on being elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS)! Dr. Yosuke Kanai is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He was nominated by the Division of Computational Physics for
“For important contributions to the development and application of a real-time propagation approach to time-dependent density functional theory and use of first-principles methods to study non-equilibrium electron dynamics phenomena, including electronic stopping of high-energy ions in complex matter.”
Prof. Kanai has made several key contributions to the development of real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT). His recent perspective piece in the Journal of the American Chemical Society offers an introduction to the methodologies and applications of RT-TDDFT, making the topic accessible to a broader audience [1].
“I am truly delighted that our work has been recognized by our peers in the community and feel honored to have been elected as an APS fellow.” Kanai said.
Since 1921, the APS Fellowship Program has recognized members making advances in physics through original research and publication, or by making significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology, the teaching of physics or service and participation in the activities of the Society. Fellowship is a distinct honor signifying recognition by one’s professional peers. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the Society’s membership (excluding student members) is recognized by their peers for election to the status of Fellow of the American Physical Society.
[1] Real-Time TDDFT for Simulating Nonequilibrium Electron Dynamics
J. Xu, T. E. Carney, R. Zhou, C. Shepard, Y. Kanai
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 5011 (2024) – Invited Perspective

Three undergraduate student mentees of the Grad-to-Undergrad (G2U) Mentorship Program – Maria “Flor” Nardone, Vysnavi “Vyshu” Sabbi, and Gerald “Mezzie” Akwuole – attended the Conference for Undergraduate Minorities in Physics (CU2MIP) [https://cu2mip.physics.umd.edu].

The conference was held from April 12-14th at the University of Maryland (UMD) and The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), offering various avenues to personally interact with scientist working in academia, industry, and government and learn about career opportunities available for physicist. The conference offers a variety of workshops and panels focusing on success in physics, applying to graduate school, science policy, efficient networking techniques, and more. The mentees also participated in professional and social activities that included lunch with a Nobel laureate, a poster session, lab tours of different research centers, and a Karaoke night with the UMD Society of Physics students!

One of the tour opportunities at NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology was led by UNC alum and former G2U mentor and program coordinator, Michele Kelley. The mentees were able to have a reunion with Michele and learned about the exciting work being done at NIST, pictured below.

Michele, Mezzie, Flor, and Vyshu (left to right).

Second photo from: https://cu2mip.physics.umd.edu/photo-gallery/

The mentees also shared some thoughts about the conference and what it meant to them:

“Meeting successful minority physicists who have overcome similar challenges was incredibly inspiring. It gave me hope for my future in the field, empowering me to take ownership of my identity and see my future goals more clearly and attainably.”
– Vysnavi

“It was an amazing experience! Physics isn’t the most common major but being able to be in a room where I know we all have that thing in common was inspiring. Being at the conference reminded me of why I loved studying physics in the first place. Whether we do research in labs, work in industry, academia, or for the community, we all embodied one of the core principles physics teaches us: To think outside of the box. Everyone’s reasons to study physics and their area of interest/expertise was unique but engaging, important, and thought-provoking. Being at the conference helped reassure me that my future can take multiple paths and that it’s okay that my path may seem a little different. As a college student whose about to graduate in a year and is always worried about my future, this conference really helped me put things together and see all the options I have out there.”
– Mezzie

The G2U program is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for underrepresented minority students pursuing their passion for physics and astronomy at UNC. With support from staff and faculty, the graduate student-led program hopes to continue to provide mentees with unique opportunities to explore physics outside of the classroom.

Congratulations to Prof. Dan Reichart on receiving the Emmons Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, for “demonstrating outstanding achievement in the teaching of college-level introductory astronomy for non-majors”.

More info here.

On August 26, astronomy minor Karsen Kitchen who is senior majoring in communication studies made history by being the youngest woman to cross the Kármán line (an altitude of 100 km above mean sea level) which marks the boundary of where space begins. She was one of the six member of Blue Origin’s NS-26 spaceflight mission.

Congratulations to Prof. Carl Rodriguez who received the annual Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement. The prestigious, university wide award was established in 1986 to recognize the achievements of outstanding junior faculty.

From the College of Art and Sciences’ announcement:

“Rodriguez is an emerging leader in a field that is in its infancy — black holes and gravitational waves. This year, he was selected by the American Astronomical Society for the Warner Prize, the highest national award given to early-career astrophysicists. He won for groundbreaking work on the astrophysical origin of the gravitational-wave sources detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

Rodriguez’s work on the dynamical formation of merging black hole binaries from young star clusters, stellar triples, and globular clusters — millions of stars tightly bound together — has been key in the community’s analysis of these events. His 96 peer-reviewed papers, 19 of which he led as first author, have garnered over 10,000 citations.”

Our very own Laurie McNeil has been named as the 2025 John David Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Education awardee!

From AAPT’s website announcement:

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has announced that the John David Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Education Award for 2025 will be awarded to Laurie Elizabeth McNeil, Bernard Gray Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).

Regarding her selection to receive this award, McNeil said, “I am deeply honored to receive this recognition of my efforts on behalf of graduate education. I have been privileged to be in a position throughout my career to work to enhance education in physics and related fields at all levels, to help all students succeed in applying their talents and training in whatever area they choose.”

Find the full announcement here.

Congratulations, Laurie!!!