College Researcher, Three Alumnae Named Fellows of the American Physical Society

(l-r) Karen Byrum, Elizabeth Hays, Ana Maria Rey, Peter Yoon

A senior research scientist and three physics alumnae from the University of Maryland have been named 2014 fellows of the American Physical Society (APS) for their exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise. 

 

Karen Byrum (M.S. ’85, physics), a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, was elected fellow for her contributions in advancing a complimentary experimental approach for studying dark matter by including cosmic gamma rays and for contributions in developing new technologies for triggering and photo-detection. 

Elizabeth Hays (Ph.D. ’04, physics), an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was elected fellow for her discovery of high-energy gamma-ray flares from the Crab nebula in Fermi data and her major contributions to the success of Fermi. 

Ana Maria Rey (Ph.D. ’04, physics), an associate professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and a research fellow at JILA, was elected fellow for her pioneering research on developing fundamental understanding and control of novel quantum systems and finding applications for a wide range of scientific fields including quantum metrology and emerging interface between atomic, molecular and optical physics; condensed matter; and quantum information science.

Peter Yoon, a senior research scientist in the university’s Institute for Physical Science and Technology, was elected fellow for his contributions to fundamental kinetic plasma turbulence theory and for numerous research contributions in magnetospheric, solar, and interplanetary plasmas.

The world’s second largest organization of physicists, APS publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including Physical Review and Physical Review Letters and organizes more than 20 science meetings each year. Founded in 1899 at Columbia University to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics, APS currently has 50,000 members worldwide. 

Media Relations ContactAbby Robinson, 301-405-5845, abbyr@umd.edu

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About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.

About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 8,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and nine interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $250 million.