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Late Prof. C.N. "Frank" Yang: 1922 - 2025
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Physics and Astronomy in the News Archive
This page is an archive of news articles concerning our department that have been published by the university. For a list of department news headlines, please check the Department News archive.
Prof. Simon Birrer Receives Prestigious DOE Early Career Award
Prof. Simon Birrer has won a prestigious DOE Early Career Award! His winning proposal was to study the expansion history of the Universe with the newly commissioned NSF-DoE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
2025 Season's Greetings
We collectively had an exceptionally productive year in 2025. We got together in person, shared our lives, and created new stories and memorable moments. We wish you all happy and restful holidays, and wish you the very best in 2026!
Prof. George Sterman Receives Honorary Doctorate from ETH Zurich
Prof. George Sterman, the Director of YITP, was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by ETH Zurich. The award citation refers to Prof. Sterman's development of concepts that "enable precise tests of the fundamental laws of nature in particle physics".
You can read more about this on the ETH website.
Prof. Ken Dill to Receive Biophysical Society’s 2026 Founder’s Award
The Biophysical Society has announced that Professor Ken A. Dill will receive the Society’s 2026 Founders Award for his work on the protein folding problem and the development of statistical mechanical theories and foundational principles in biophysics.
SBU Researchers Part of “Rival” Experiments Publish First Joint Analysis
Researchers from the Department of Physics and Astronomy are part of an international team of physicists conducting the T2K experiment and have provided joint analysis with another team of physicists conducting a different NOvA experiment.
In Memoriam, Prof. Frank C.N. Yang
With our heaviest hearts we share the very sad news for the department, Stony Brook University and the entire (particle) physics community in the world. Our beloved colleague, mentor and friend Frank C. N. Yang has passed away at age 103 in China.
Professor Neelima Sehgal Elected as an American Physical Society Fellow
SBU Professor Neelima Sehgal has been elected as an American Physical Society (APS) Fellow joining other APS fellows in the Physics & Astronomy Department.
Stony Brook Ranked in Top 40 Globally for Physics by U.S. News & World Report
Stony Brook University posted its highest-ever ranking in the 2025-26 U.S News & World Report Best Global Universities for Physics, with a global ranking of 39 and a national ranking of 19.
This news was also featured by TBR News Media.
Jesus Perez Rios Wins NSF CAREER Award for Few-Body Physics Research
Jesus Perez Rios, an assistant professor in the P&A Department, has received the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for his project, “Few-Body Processes Including Ions, Atoms and Molecules: From Plasma Physics to Cold Chemistry.”
Governor Hochul Announces $300M Investment in Quantum Research and Innovation Hub
SUNY Stony Brook has received a $300 million investment to establish the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub. The funding will fuel New York’s research excellence and help build a faster, smarter, and more secure internet.
Astronomers Get Best View Yet of Two Merging Black Holes
Associate Professor Will Farr and graduate student Nicole Khusid have been part of a worldwide team of researchers who have used the loudest black hole merger detected to date to help identify how black holes work, confirming theoretical predictions about black hole spacetimes. This work was also featured by Reuters.
SBU-Led Team Receives $4M NSF Grant to Develop 10-Node Quantum Network
A Stony Brook University-led team has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant supporting the National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL) Quantum Testbeds.
4th Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium
The 4th Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium will be given by Prof. Didier Queloz, who received the Nobel Prize in 2019!
Prof. Nikita Nekrasov Announced as Part of Simons Collaboration
Professor Nikita Nekrasov has been selected as a Principal Investigator (PI) as part of the Simons Foundation launch of the Simons Collaboration on Probabilistic Paths to Quantum Field Theory.
2025 Department Photo
Prof. Vivian Miranda Wins a 2025 Stony Brook Trustees Faculty Award
We are delighted to share the news that Prof. Vivian Miranda's application, entitled “Braving the Dark Sector of our Universe with the Roman Space Telescope” has been selected for a 2025 Stony Brook Trustees Faculty Award.
Prof. Eden Figueroa Elected a Member of the National Academy of Inventors
It is our pleasure to share the news that Professor Eden Figueroa was recently elected a member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Professor Figueroa was one of the five new NAI Members from Stony Brook.
Professor Barry Barish Elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society
Prof. Barry Barish has been elected a member of the American Philosophical Society
(APS), the oldest learned society in North America and perhaps the most prestigious.
SUNY Honors Department Members
We are proud to share that two of our faculty members and one staff member have been recently honored by SUNY. Congratulations to Marivi Fernandez-Serra, Thomas Weinacht, and Dawn Huether!
SBU Professor Jennifer Cano Receives SUNY Chancellor’s Horizon Award
This award honors early career tenured and tenure track faculty whose scholarly or
creative activities have already achieved significant recognition and crucially, hold
strong promise for field-defining impact in the future.
Welcome to the Department!
We are happy to welcome three new faculty members to the department this semester: Assistant Professor Yin-Chen He, Assistant Professor Han Ma, and Lecturer Ross Corliss!
3rd Annual Undergraduate Colloquium
Congratulations to the undergraduate students who presented at the Undergraduate Colloquium on April 15 and received the Barry Barish Undergraduate Research Travel Award: Ryan Brady, Nikhil Keer, Kevin O'Shea, and Zahin Shahrior!
SBU Researchers Share 2025 Breakthrough Prize
Members of the SBU Department of Physics and Astronomy were recently among the recipients of the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in recognition of their experimental collaborations with CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
P&A Participation in the Stony Brook Giving Day
This year, we have decided to participate in the Stony Brook Giving Day for the first time. Please consider donating to the two projects associated with our department.
Jennifer Cano wins the Stony Brook Discovery Prize
We would like to congratulate Associate Professor Jennifer Cano for winning the $200,000 Stony Brook Discovery Prize! She gave an outstanding talk last week at the Discovery Prize competition.
The 30 Year Anniversary of the Discovery of the Top Quark
30 years ago, on March 2, 1995, the CDF and DZero collaborations announced the discovery of the top quark! The Stony Brook High Energy Physics group led by Prof. Paul Grannis was the leading university group in the DZero collaboration.
PHENIX Experiment Finds Fresh Evidence for Tiny Drops of Quark-Gluon Plasma
A new analysis of data from the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory reveals fresh evidence that collisions of even very small nuclei with large ones might create tiny specks of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP).
Season's Greetings
Once again we collectively had another highly productive year in 2024. We got together in person, shared our lives, and created new stories and memorable moments. We look forward to having more wonderful stories and moments in our department in 2025.
Using Matter Waves, Scientists Unveil Novel Collective Behaviors in Quantum Optics
A recent paper by Professor Dominik Schneble's group, published in Nature Physics and accompanied by a theoretical paper in Physical Review Research, is generating significant attention from the media worldwide.
Welcome to the Department!
We welcome two new assistant professsors to our department, and we're excited to see what new discoveries they'll find! Welcome Drs. Riccio and Ringer!
Stony Brook University's Patrick Meade Elected as an American Physical Society Fellow
Stony Brook University’s Patrick Meade, professor in the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP), was recently elected to a fellowship with the American Physical Society (APS).
Stony Brook University Recognized as Leader in High School Physics Teacher Preparation
For the 7th time in 9 years, SBU has been recognized by APS and AAPT as a member of the PhysTEC 5+ Club for its outstanding work in graduating 9 physics teachers in the 2022-2023 academic year.
3rd Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium
The 3rd Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium will be given by Prof. David Gross, who received the Nobel Prize in 2004!
QIST Project Led by Stony Brook Selected for a NQVL Pilot Project
The SCY-QNet (Wide-Area Quantum Network To Demonstrate Quantum Advantage) proposal led by our own Eden Figueroa has been selected by NSF as one of the five pilot projects for the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL).
SUNY Honors Department Faculty Members
Three of our department's faculty members have been recently awarded with the highest honors from SUNY! Please join us in congratulating Professors John Hobbs, Laszlo Mihaly, and Jac Verbaarschot!
Remembering Jim Simons
Beloved friend, generous philanthropist, pioneering mathematician, and visionary leader James H. Simons died on May 10 at the age of 86.
Dr. Zamolodchikov Honored at 2024 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony
He was co-recipient of the 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, “for profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics.”
Dr. Deshpande Named BNL Interim Associate Lab Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics
This is a critically important position for BNL and will further strengthen BNL-SBU cooperation. Congratulations, Dr. Deshpande!
Kenneth Lanzetta Receives 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar Award to Chile
Awardees engage in cutting-edge research, often continuing research collaborations started abroad, laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Congratulations to Dr. Lanzetta for this prestigious award!
SBU Research Team Makes Progress Towards Quantum Internet
Dr. Figueroa's group and collaborators have demonstrated the feasibility of a foundational quantum network measurement that employs room-temperature quantum memories!
Welcome to the Department!
We welcome five new assistant professors to our department, and we're excited to see what new discoveries they'll find! Welcome Drs. Arnold, Dao, Kumar, Riccio, and Esha!
T2K Experiment Enters a New Phase in World-leading Neutrino Research
The T2K Collaboration has started taking data using enhanced detectors! Our department's Neutrino and Nucleon Decay group plays a leading role on this experiment. Click to read more!
Happy Holidays!
Many members of the department were recognized for their outstanding research, teaching and services and many were promoted. We got together in person, shared our lives, and created new stories and memorable moments.
Adjunct Prof. Ilan Ben-Zvi receives Dieter Möhl award
This award, sponsored by CERN, recognizes "his outstanding contributions to the development of high energy electron cooling and application of particle beam cooling at BNL."
Barry Barish Awarded National Medal of Science
Department member Dr. Barish, a Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics, was awarded a 2022 National Medal of Science, for his "exemplary service to science, including groundbreaking research on sub-atomic particles."
Derek Teaney Elected 2023 APS Fellow
The American Physical Society recently announced its new cohort of Fellows for 2023, and Prof. Teaney was elected! This distinction recognizes him as a leading physicist whose research and service as an educator have helped advance the frontiers of science and technology.
Stony Brook Physicist Awarded Prestigious Breakthrough Prize
Alexander Zamolodchikov was awarded for his "profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics."
Associate Professor Mengkun Liu Receives $1.25M Grant
The grant, from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as part of its Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative, is dedicated to supporting investigators at the forefront of experimental physics research!
2nd Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium
The 2nd Annual C.N. Yang Colloquium will be given by Dr. Serge Haroche, who received the Nobel Prize in 2012!
Axel Drees Named Interim Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Drees, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, has held many leadership roles, both administrative and research related, and will help actively recruit strong candidates to replace the dean. Congratulations, Dr. Drees!
Reappearing Supernova and a First-of-its-Kind Measurement of Universe's Expansion
Drs. Birrer and von der Linden, along with collaborators, have used a first-of-its-kind technique based on gravitational lensing to measure the expansion rate of the Universe!
2023 Department Photo
Dean Schamberger Receives SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service
Dean Schmberger who is a research professor in the High Energy Physics group is a recipient of the 2023 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Dean came to Stony Brook as an undergrad in 1960's and has never left. For essentially a half century, Dean has been a key member of the HEP group contributing to discoveries and scientific advances in experimental particle physics. He was the backbone of the group, and assisted and helped other group members tirelessly. More recently Dean has been working as de facto IT person for the department helping many people with various issues.
The department sincerely congratulates Dean for this richly deserved recognition.
Brookhaven National Lab Director to Join Department
Dr. JoAnne Hewett, the new and first ever female director at BNL, has recently been appointed as a tenured professor in the department and the YITP! As director, she will oversee the lab at this critical time as BNL prepares to construct the Electron-Ion Collider.
Hal Metcalf Receives Esther Hoffman Beller Medal
Optica awarded Hal Metcalf, Distinguished Teaching Professor, for his outstanding mentorship of undergraduate student optics research and organizing an annual symposium for students to present their work!
Professor Martin Rocek Named 2022-2023 SUNY Distinguished Professor
James Lattimer Named American Astronomical Society Fellow
Dr. Lattimer has been selected as a 2023 Fellow of the American Astronomical Society, for his formative discoveries about the evolution and structure of neutron stars.
Professor Birrer Joins Department
We welcome Simon Birrer, our new Assistant Professor in Astronomy and Cosmology! He received his PhD from ETH Zurich in 2016, was was a Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA, and then a Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford. Click the link above to see his profile!
Happy Holidays!
Many members of the department were recognized for their outstanding research, teaching, and service. After two long years of the pandemic, we gathered in person and shared our lives, creating new stories and memorable moments. Click below to see the full card!
Barry Barish Awarded Copernicus Prize
Dr. Barish, a Nobel Laureate who will join our department as the inaugural President's Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics, has received the award for his "exceptional contributions to the development of world science."
SBU Awarded $6.5M Grant to Build a New Quantum Internet Test Bed
The center will catalyze new technologies to accelerate today’s internet functionality, to improve the security of our communications, and to enable dramatic advances in computing.
Nikita Nekrasov Awarded 2023 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
for his research and "elegant application of powerful mathematical techniques to extract exact results for quantum field theories"
Department Members Awarded NSF Early Career Awards
Two of our junior faculty members, Cyrus Dreyer and Navid Vafaei-Najafabadi, have just won the prestigious NSF Early Career Awards! Both professors are dedicated to undergraduate education and early research involvements besides excelling in their own respective research.
QuEST Program to Increase Exposure to Quantum Information Science
The Quantum Education for Students and Teachers (QuEST), led by Dr. Kelly with colleagues Dr. Wei and Dr. Schneble, will increase exposure to quantum information science knowledge for students in grades 8-12!
Nobel Laureate Barry Barish to Join SBU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy
This interview with local newspaper Times Beacon Record details this exciting announcement!
Nobel Laureate Barry Barish To Join Department of Physics and Astronomy
Dr. Barry Barish has been appointed as the inaugural President's Distinguished Endowed Chair in Physics, beginning in the Fall of 2023.
Inaugural C.N. Yang Colloquium presented by Dr. Barry Barish, Nobel Laureate
SBU, BNL Physicist in Simons Foundation Collaboration to Explore Building Blocks of Matter
“By understanding confinement, we can learn fundamentally how hadrons — protons, neutrons and other composite particles made of quarks and gluons — are put together." -- Dr. Venugopalan, adjunct professor.
Physics Department Members Receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
Jin Bentley and Ismail Zahed have received state-wide recognition by being awarded two of the 2021-2022 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.
Physics Department Alumni Receive University's 40 Under Forty Award
Giovanni Milione, Rustum Nyquist, and Adam Siegel have been designated as recipients of Stony Brook's 40 Under Forty honorees for 2021.
Simons Foundation Partners with Stony Brook University to Improve Diversity in STEM
Robert Shrock and Abhay Deshpande Named 2021-2022 SUNY Distinguished Professors
Discovery of Matter-Wave Polaritons Sheds New Light on Photonic Quantum Technologies
Jennifer Cano awarded Sloan Research Fellowship
Abhay Deshpande named AAAS fellow
Physics and Astronomy Earns Top Honors for Teacher Preparation Program
Chang Kee Jung Wins American Physical Society’s 2022 Lilienfeld Prize
Tom Hemmick and Jac Verbaarschot named APS Fellows
The Ernest Courant Traineeship in Accelerator Science & Engineering is Developing the Next Generation of Particle Accelerator Talent
Two Research Projects Involving SBU Faculty Receive DOE INCITE Awards
Physics Postdoc Named Finalist in Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists
Quantum Computing Lab Is Building a Better Internet
Dmitri Kharzeev Elected to The Academy of Europe
Late Prof. C.N. "Frank" Yang: 1922 - 2025Department of Physics and AstronomyStony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY 11794-3800
Phone: 631-632-8100Fax: 631-632-8176
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