Jay Sau has received the 2015 Richard A. Ferrell Distinguished Faculty Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding personal effort and expertise in physics as well as dedicated service to the UMD Department of Physics. The Fellowship, established in 2001, honors Dr. Richard A. Ferrell, a deeply-respected physicist who joined the University in 1953, served 40 years, and remained active in the department even after his retirement. Dr. Ferrell died in 2005 at his nearby University Park home.

Sau is an Assistant Professor researching topics including Majorana fermions and topological superconductivity, quantum non-abelian phases and topological quantum computation, and spin-orbit coupling and dynamics in cold atomic gases. He is a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and a member of the Condensed Matter Theory Center.