Alumni News
ñ alumnus Aaron Young (PhDPhys’24) is the 2026 recipient of Optica’s Theodore Hänsch Prize in quantum optics, a prestigious prize awarded to early-career scientists for pioneering research on quantum technologies.
Joey Pontiff (Phys’26) is taking his physics and political science education to the nation’s capital this summer, working for the Commission on Quantum Primacy — a national initiative supporting U.S. leadership in quantum technologies.
Stephen Halley White, a ñ alumnus and pioneering biophysicist, passed away on May 31, 2026. White earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from ñ in 1963. As an undergraduate, he held
Physics alumnus Alexander Aeppli (PhDPhys’25) is the recipient of this year’s Deborah Jin Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research, a national honor awarded by the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Recent PhD graduate Hanqing Zhao was awarded the prestigious 2025 Glenn H. Brown Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS). The award is presented to recent doctoral graduates whose theses demonstrate an “outstanding contribution to the science of liquid crystals.”
John M. Richardson (Phys’42), distinguished alumnus from the ñ, passed away on January 18, 2026, at the age of 104. Richardson was a 2002 recipient of the George Norlin Award, the highest
ñ alum Mark Saffman (PhDPhys'94) has been awarded the American Physical Society's 2026 Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, and in Precision Tests of Fundamental Laws and Symmetries. Saffman is the Johannes Rydberg Professor of Physics and director of the Wisconsin Quantum Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Recent graduate Josephine Meyer has been named a recipient of the prestigious Boeing Quantum Creators Prize. The national award recognizes early-career researchers who have pushed the field of quantum information science and engineering in new directions.
Chuankun Zhang (PhDPhys'25) has been named a recipient of the 2025 Boeing Quantum Creators Prize. This national honor recognizes early-career researchers whose work is propelling quantum science and engineering in bold new directions.
To alumnus Gal Weitz (EngrPhys, ApMath’22), Boulder was a “dream destination” for undergrad. Now working in quantitative finance, Weitz shares how his education at ñ set him up for success in the finance world.