University of Maryland Physics Professor Christopher Monroe has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Monroe is also a Distinguished University Professor, the Bice Zorn Professor of Physics, and a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science.

Monroe is one of 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected in 2016, joining a select group of 2,291 scientists around the country recognized for their influential research and elected by their peers. Monroe is a scientific leader in trapping atomic ions and using their quantum properties for novel information processing tasks.

After graduating from MIT, Monroe earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado. From 1992 until 2000, he worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, where he helped demonstrate the first quantum logic gate and pioneered the use of atoms for quantum memory devices. From 2000 until he joined UMD in 2007, Monroe was a faculty member at the University of Michigan.

In 2008, Monroe’s group produced quantum entanglement between two widely separated atoms and for the first time teleported quantum information between matter separated by a large distance. Since 2009, his group has used ultrafast laser pulses for speedy quantum entanglement operations, pioneered the use of trapped ions for quantum simulations of many-body models related to quantum magnetism, and has proposed and taken the first steps toward creating a large-scale, reconfigurable and modular quantum computer. He recently co-authored a feature article in Scientific American on the promise of modular quantum computing systems.

Monroe is also a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Arthur Schawlow Prize in Laser Science from the American Physical Society, the I.I. Rabi Prize from the American Physical Society, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the International Quantum Communication Award, and the CMNS Board of Visitors Distinguished Faculty Award.

University of Maryland Professor Thomas Antonsen Jr. was awarded the 2016 John R. Pierce Award for Excellence in Vacuum Electronics at the Plenary Session of the International Vacuum Electronics Conference on April 19, 2016 in Monterey, California. The citation reads: “for contributions to the theory of charged particle beam generation and the development of computational design tools for fast and slow wave devices.”

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Donna Hammer, Director of Student and Education Services, was awarded the Outstanding Advisor for a Student Organization Award for her role as UMD Chapter Advisor of the Society of Physics Students. Donna was presented the Award on May 1 at the 35th Annual University Awards Banquet held in the Grand Ballroom of the Adele H. Stamp Student Union.

The following is an excerpt from the nomination letter, submitted by the Society of Physics Students, which was read at the award presentation:

Donna meets with our officers on a monthly basis and talks us through our long and short-term objectives for the club. She provides the perfect balance of letting us grow our own ideas, but then following up with us to make sure we are meeting the appropriate milestones to accomplish those objectives. She is great at letting us develop the club and our own leadership skills on our own, but always stepping in should we need additional help or encouragement. I have always felt comfortable contacting her should I need any help, and I know I will get an insightful response or support.

Ellen Williams, Distinguished University Professor, has been named a foreign member of the prestigious Royal Society.

She was among 10 new foreign fellows and 50 new fellows announced on April 29 in London. The society is a fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

Williams came to UMD in 1981 for a post-doctoral fellowship and became a full professor in 1991. At Maryland, she pioneered the use of very powerful electron scanning, tunneling microscopes to study the surface of materials like silicon at the atomic level. In 1996 Williams founded the University of Maryland Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, serving as its director until 2009. She served as Chief Scientist at BP from 2010-14 and on December 8, 2014, she became director at ARPA-E.

Howard Milchberg comments on the feasibility of the "starshot" interstellar probe.