Prize Recipient

Pierre Sokolsky
University of Utah

Citation:

"For the pioneering development of the atmospheric fluorescence technique as a method for exploring the highest energy cosmic rays."

Background:

Pierre Sokolsky, a professor of physics at the University of Utah, was named dean of the College of Science in 2007. Sokolsky earned a BA degree in 1967 at the University of Chicago, and a MS and PhD degree in 1969 and 1973 at the University of Illinois. Sokolsky joined the University of Utah physics faculty in 1981 and was promoted to full professor in 1988. He served as physics department chairman from August 2003 to July 2007. He is a member of the American Physical Society and the International Society of Optical Engineering. In 1999, he was awarded the University of Utah Distinguished Research Award and, in 2002, was named a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow. In 2004, Sokolsky spearheaded the universitys $17 million Telescope Array project located just west of Delta, Utah, to study ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays in a collaboration with scientists from the University of New Mexico, the University of Montana, the University of Tokyo Institute for Cosmic Ray Research and several other Japanese universities. Sokolsky also launched a comprehensive astronomy research program at the University of Utah, including undergraduate and graduate degrees in astronomy. Sokolsky earned the Utah Governors Medal for Science and Technology in 2006 for his distinguished service to the State of Utah.

Selection Committee:

Al Goshaw (Chair), D. Macfarlane, N. Lockyer, H. Nelson, D. Harris