Four SAS Faculty Named American Physical Society Fellows
December 16, 2011
The American Physical Society (APS) named Mark Devlin, Alan T. Charlie Johnson, Jr. and Josh Klein from the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Feng Gai from the Department of Chemistry among their 2012 fellows.
Devlin, the Reese W. Flower Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is co-founder of the Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) program which uses a revolutionary new telescope, attached to a NASA high-altitude balloon, to study how galaxies form.
Johnson focuses his research on novel transport phenomena and nanotechnology. As part of the multi-disciplinary team at the Nano/Bio Interface Center, he explores new directions for the life sciences and nano-biotechnology.
Klein, in collaboration with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, utilizes advanced detectors to observe solar neutrino travel between the sun and the earth. This has led to breakthroughs in understanding how the sun burns.
Gai’s primary research area is protein folding. Proteins that fold incorrectly in humans result in diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cystic fibrosis. The development of better modeling techniques for protein folding may lead to more effective treatments of these diseases.
Members of the APS are eligible for nomination and election to fellowship. Nominations are evaluated by the fellowship committee of the appropriate APS division, topical group or forum, and then selected by the APS council.