Physics Graduate Prizes and Awards
DISSERTATION COMPLETION FELLOWSHIP: Fellowships from the Grauate College designed to help outstanding graduate students complete the doctoral degree in a timely fashion by providing a one-year stipend of $17,000. The intent is to free Fellows from assistantships and other such obligations, allowing them to devote full-time to the completion of the dissertation. No concurrent appointment or employment of any kind is permitted with the Dissertation Completion Fellowship. See https://www.grad.uiuc.edu/fellowship/listing/2807
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DRICKAMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP: To recognize a graduate student who has demonstrated significant ability in research. The award is named for Harry G. Drickamer, professor of physics, chemistry, and chemical engineering at Illinois. Professor Drickamer, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and winner of the National Medal of Science (1989), has contributed extensively to the understanding of the physics and chemistry of matter at high pressure. His experiments have demonstrated the essential nature of pressure as a tool for understanding electronic behavior in condensed systems.
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FELIX T. ADLER FELLOWSHIP: For recognition of the outstanding work by a Physics graduate student in the area of nuclear physics.
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GIULIO ASCOLI AWARD: To recognize outstanding work by a graduate student in experimental high energy physics. Guilio Ascoli served our department with distinction from 1950 until his retirement in 1986. During his career in high energy physics, Professor Ascoli participated in experiments at CERN, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He was versatile and painstaking, both in the design and fabrication of hardware and in the development of algorithms for data analysis.
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JOHN BARDEEN AWARD: To recognize outstanding work by a graduate student in condensed matter physics or the physics of electronic devices. The award is named for John Bardeen, two-time Nobel Laureate in Physics (1956 and 1972) and faculty member in this department from 1951 until his death in 1991. At Illinois, Professor Bardeen established two major research programs, one in the Electrical Engineering Department dealing with both experimental and theoretical aspects of semiconductors, and one in the Physics Department which dealt with theoretical aspects of macroscopic quantum systems, particularly superconductivity and quantum liquids. The microscopic theory of superconductivity, developed in collaboration with L.N. Cooper and J.R. Schrieffer in 1956 and 1957 (BCS theory), has had profound implications for nearly every field of physics—from elementary particle to nuclear and the helium liquids to neutron stars. During his 60-year scientific career, Professor Bardeen made significant contributions to almost every aspect of condensed matter physics from his early work on the electronic behavior of metals, the surface properties of semiconductors, and the theory of diffusion of atoms in crystals to his later work on quasi-one-dimensional metals.
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JORDAN S. ASKETH FELLOWSHIP: In recognition of an outstanding European graduate student. Upon his death, the late Jordan Asketh graciously bequeathed a generous portion of the proceeds from his estate to the University of Illinois to fund "graduate study grants" for students in the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine. To honor his Greek heritage, he specified that whenever possible, these fellowships should be awarded to graduate students of Greek heritage who are pursuing their advanced study at the University of Illinois.
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L.S. EDELHEIT FAMILY BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS FELLOWSHIP: Provides an annual graduate fellowship to the best student in biological physics (theory or experiment). A BS, MS, and Ph.D alumnus of this department, Dr. Edelheit is widely credited with leading General Electric into the medical imaging sector. At his retirement in 2002, Dr. Edelheit directed GE's Research and Development Center in Schnectady NY, one of the world's largest and most diversified industrial laboratories.
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RENATO BOBONE AWARD: to recognize the year's outstanding European Physics graduate student. Dr. Renato Bobone, a Ph.D. alumnus of our department, spent his entire career (1960-1987) at General Electric in Schenectady, New York, at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, working on several aspects of naval reactor design. In 1985, when he endowed the award, Dr. Bobone wrote: "Interest in physics and the education I have been privileged to receive in Italy, first, and then in this country, have carried me over many obstacles and will be with me forever. I am deeply grateful to the University of Illinois, its Physics Department, and in particular to Prof. Hans Frauenfelder, who in the period 1956-1960 acted, in my behalf, both as an advisor and as a friend. Finally, having thoroughly absorbed both the Italian and the American cultures, and feeling that I belong to both, I look on the award as another bridge between countries already joined by many ties of people, culture, and friendship."
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SCOTT ANDERSON AWARD: To recognize the year's outstanding Physics teaching assistants. The award is named after Dr. Scott Anderson (Engineering Physics, M.S. '37, Ph.D. '40), an Illinois alumnus, who founded Anderson Physics Laboratories in Urbana in 1944. Dr. Anderson, a creative and prolific entrepreneur, developed metal halide lighting systems, and APL now has a 60-70 percent worldwide market share of the metal iodides used in metal halide lamps. Until his death (at age 93) in 2006, Dr. Anderson remained an active consultant to APL and was a tireless supporter of our department. It was through his initiative as president of our Physics Alumni Association and his generous philanthropy that the Anderson Award was endowed.
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THE DONALD AND SHIRLEY JONES FELLOWSHIP: A one semester fellowship given to recognize a physics graduate student who has demonstrated significant research ability.
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VIJAY R. PANDHARIPANDE PRIZE IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS: To recognize the year's outstanding nuclear physics graduate student. The award is named for Vijay Pandharipande, an internationally recognized nuclear theorist who played a leading role in the development of the nuclear many-body problem. Professor Pandharipande served with great distinction on our faculty for 34 years.
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