USD faculty members worked on Nobel Prize winning project
Two University of South Dakota faculty members worked on this year’s Nobel Prize winning topic in physics as graduate students.
Arthur B. McDonald and Takaaki Kajita, both neutrino physicists, won the coveted prize this week in physics for their work on neutrino oscillations.
CONGRATULATIONS! Arthur B. McDonald is awarded the 2015 #NobelPrize in Physics together with Takaaki Kajita ”for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”.
Posted by Nobel Prize on Tuesday, October 6, 2015
[pull_quote_right author=”Tina Keller, associate dean, College of Arts & Sciences”]Having two faculty members who have a direct connection to the recipients of a Nobel Prize in physics is quite unique for a physics department of our size.[/pull_quote_right]
Ryan MacLellan, an assistant professor of physics at USD, was a graduate student of McDonald and worked with him at the Subury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Canada on neutrino oscillation experiments.
“It is very safe to say that I would not be where I am today if not for Art. From 2001 to 2009, I was very privileged to be one of the few Ph.D. students that Art has supervised,” MacLellan said. “I had been asked many times over the years when it would be Art’s turn, not that I should have any idea. But I can now say with certainty that he very much represents the ideal of the Nobel Laureate tradition and certainly is deserving of this great honor. He is a great stately man who also could not be more personable.”
Dongming Mei, an associate professor of physics at USD, also worked on neutrino oscillation experiments as part of his Ph.D. dissertation at a complementary experiment in Japan.
“Having two faculty members who have a direct connection to the recipients of a Nobel Prize in physics is quite unique for a physics department of our size,” said Tina Keller, director of physics, professor and associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences at USD. “This speaks quite highly of the caliber of research occurring at USD and the opportunity our students have to participate in truly groundbreaking physics research.”
MacLellan, Mei and other USD faculty join scientists from around the world who are also researching neutrinos at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
