Carl Wieman, PhD
PhD, Stanford University
BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Doctor of Science, honoris causa, University of Chicago
Dr. Wieman currently serves as the Associate Director of Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is also the Chair of the Board on Science Education of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Wieman is also the Director of the Carl Weiman Science and Education Initiative (CWSEI) at the University of British Columbia and a Fellow of the Joint Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics, whose research has been recognized by numerous scientific prizes, including the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for creating a new form of matter at ultralow temperatures, the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The existence of BEC was predicted by Albert Einstein in 1924, building on the work of Satyendra Nath Bose. Scientists had attempted to confirm the existence of BEC for 71 years, until Dr. Wieman and his team did so in 1995.
Dr. Wieman's unique combination of contributions to both cutting-edge research and innovations in education have been recognized by the Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1996, the first Distinguished Teaching Scholar Award by the Director of the National Science Foundation in 2001, the National Professor of the Year of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and The Carnegie Foundation in 2004, and the Oersted Medal, which recognizes notable contributions to the teaching of physics, by the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2007.
