Physics Professor William Dorland Selected for APS Maxwell Prize
University of Maryland Physics Professor William Dorland will receive the American Physical Society’s (APS) 2024 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for “pioneering work in kinetic plasma turbulence that revolutionizes turbulent transport calculations for magnetic confinement devices and inspires research in astrophysical plasma turbulence." This honor—shared with Greg Hammett, Dorland’s doctoral advisor from Princeton University—will be presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics in October 2024.
The James Clerk Maxwell Prize annually recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of plasma physics. The prize is named after a nineteenth-century Scottish physicist known for his work with electricity, magnetism, and light.
Dorland graduated with a B.S. in physics (with special and highest honors) from the University of Texas in 1988,and received his Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 1993. He also earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in 1993, after completing a course of study focused on international science policy.
He then accepted an appointment as a Department of Energy Fusion Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Fusion Studies of the University of Texas and rose to the rank of associate research scientist before joining UMD in 1998. He holds a joint appointment in Physics and the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP). Dorland has been a visiting professor of theoretical physics at the University of Oxford since 2010 and held a previous appointment in the Department of Physics of Imperial College, London. From 2020-23, he served as associate laboratory director for computational science at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.
In 2005, Dorland was elected Fellow of the APS Division of Plasma Physics. He won the Department of Energy’s 2009 E. O. Lawrence Medal for “his scientific leadership in the development of comprehensive computer simulations of plasma turbulence, and his specific predictions, insights, and improved understanding of turbulent transport in magnetically-confined plasma experiments."
Dorland is a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, a recipient of the Richard A. Ferrell Distinguished Faculty Fellowship and a Merrill Presidential Faculty Mentor. He served as director of the UMD Honors College for seven years and afterward was cited with an Honors College Outstanding Faculty Award. Three of Dorland’s undergraduate mentees have received the University Medal. He has been active in professional societies, contributing to APS advocacy for the international freedom of scientists, human rights and national security. He has published more than 150 journal articles.
“With his brilliant insights, Bill Dorland has fundamentally transformed the exploration of turbulence in fusion and astrophysical plasmas, and the Maxwell Prize is an immense and appropriate honor,” said Physics chair Steve Rolston. “In addition, he has been an extraordinary teacher, fantastic colleague and superb mentor. I could not be happier about this recognition.”
The prize carries a $10,000 stipend. UMD physicists who have won the Maxwell Prize include Tom Antonsen, Phillip A. Sprangle, Roald Sagdeev, James Drake, Hans R. Griem and Ronald C. Davidson.
Written by Anne Suplee
