Prize Recipient

John D. Joannopoulos
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Citation:

"For his pioneering use of modern computational tools for the calculation of the electronic, vibrational and optical properties of amorphous, crystalline and photonic bandgap materials, including their surfaces and defects, and for his excellence in lecturing, writing and training students in these areas."

Background:

Dr. Joannopoulos received his BA degree and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 and 1974 respectively. He joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974 where he is currently Professor of Physics.

His research efforts have been in theoretical condensed matter physics, and he is responsible for the development of numerous calculational schemes and techniques for the study of complex solid systems. His interests span a wide range of topics including the electronic and vibrational structure of crystalline and amorphous bulk solids, their surfaces, interfaces, and defects; localization in disordered systems; phase transitions and critical phenomena; and most recently, the theory of photonic bandgap crystals. He is author or co-author of more than 275 journal articles and one textbook, and holds six US patents.

Dr. Joannopoulos is a member of the AAAS, Materials Research Society, Fellow of the APS, Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, John S. Guggenheim Fellow, recipient of the School of Science Graduate Teaching Award, the William Buechner Teaching Prize and holds the Francis Wright Davis Chair of Professor of Physics.