John Joannopoulos
John Joannopoulos | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 26, 1947 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 17, 2025 (aged 78) |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | MIT |
| Thesis | Electronic structure of complex crystalline and amorphous semiconductors (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | Marvin L. Cohen |
| Doctoral students | |
John D. Joannopoulos (April 26, 1947 – August 17, 2025) was an American physicist, focused in condensed matter theory. He was the Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), an Elected Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), and an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and American Physical Society (APS).
Biography
Joannopoulos was born on April 26, 1947 in New York City to Greek parents.[1] He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Most recently, in 2015, the Optical Society of America (OSA) awarded him the Max Born Award and the APS awarded him the Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics, both significant awards.[2][3][4][5][6]
Joannopoulos was also the director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. He first gained that position in 2006.[7]
Joannopoulos had been on the MIT faculty since 1974. He held his BA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, the latter received in 1974. His doctoral studies, advised by Marvin L. Cohen, focused on electronic structure of complex crystalline and amorphous semiconductors.[1]
Joannopoulos had helped set the theoretical foundations of key computational techniques for realistic and microscopic studies of complex materials systems, including the electronic, vibrational, and optical structure of crystalline and amorphous solids, their surfaces, interfaces, and defects; localization in disordered systems; and the first ab-initio studies of phase transitions and critical phenomena. In the early nineties, he also helped spawn the development of a new class of materials (photonic crystals) that provide new mechanisms to control the flow of light and have revolutionized the fields of optical and lightwave physics.
His students included Nobel Laureate Robert B. Laughlin, David Vanderbilt, Eugene J. Mele, Shanhui Fan, Steven G. Johnson, and Karin M. Rabe.[8]
See also
- Leslie Kolodziejski, fellow MIT physicist and collaborator of Joannopoulos
References
- ^ a b Array of Contemporary American Physicists listing
- ^ "John Joannopoulos". aaas.org. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ "John Joannopoulos". mit.edu. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ "John Joannopoulous". mit.edu. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ "Lab". mit.edu. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
- ^ American Physical Society article on Joannopoulos getting prize
- ^ "Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies bio of Joannopoulos". Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ^ "Members of the Ab-Initio Physics Research Group". Retrieved 2024-05-02.