NEWS INDEX Archives 2006 April

Two Illinois researchers elected to National Academy of Sciences

James E. Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor
217-244-1073; kloeppel@uiuc.edu

4/25/06

Click photo to enlarge University of Illinois Photo Physicist Laura Greene has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences. She studies strongly correlated electron systems, primarily the investigation of the mechanisms of unconventional superconductivity.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois faculty members – David Ceperley and Laura Greene – have been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the academy announced today.

Ceperley and Greene are among the 72 scientists elected to membership in the NAS in recognition of distinguished research and continuing achievements. Election to membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. Those elected bring the total number of active members to 2,013.

Ceperley is a professor of physics, a staff scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. His research interests include theoretical condensed matter physics and computational physics.

Ceperley is an expert in developing methods for microscopic simulations of quantum systems. His techniques are used by physicists, chemists and engineers to predict the behavior of matter. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ceperley joined the Illinois faculty in 1987.

Greene is a Swanlund Professor of physics and a researcher at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. Her research interests focus on strongly correlated electron systems, primarily the investigation of the mechanisms of unconventional superconductivity.

Photo courtesy Physics Department Physicist David Ceperley, an expert in developing methods for microscopic simulations of quantum systems, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Greene is a leading experimentalist in the physics of novel materials, and has performed pioneering experiments that elucidate how the electronic properties of low- and high-temperature superconductors interface with other materials. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Greene joined the Illinois faculty in 1992.

"David Ceperley and Laura Greene each have made fundamental contributions to advancing scientific knowledge. Their presence on the
faculty of this university is a great source of pride, and their work exemplifies the discovery and innovation that happens at Illinois."

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. The academy was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, that calls on the academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.