Support the William D. Dorland Prize in Computational Plasma Physics
We are pleased to announce the launch of the William D. Dorland Prize in Computational Plasma Physics, proposed by Bill Dorland’s friends and colleagues across the plasma physics community in honor of his legacy following his passing.
The Prize has now been formally established by the American Physical Society (APS). It will be jointly administered by the APS Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) and the Topical Group for Plasma Astrophysics (GPAP), becoming a division-level award and notably the first and only award associated with GPAP.
The Prize will recognize:
“Outstanding contributions in computational plasma physics, broadly interpreted and encompassing fusion, astrophysical, and all other areas of the subject; including significant advances in physical understanding and predictive capability achieved, wholly or in part, through computational methods, and/or the development of transformative numerical techniques enabling such advances.”
The award is intended for plasma physics researchers at any stage of their career following completion of the Ph.D. Selection will be based on the scientific significance of the nominee’s contributions and their demonstrated or potential impact on the field of plasma physics.
The recipient will receive:
- A $5,000 stipend
- Travel reimbursement of up to $2,000 to attend the APS meeting at which the award is presented
- A certificate recognizing their contributions to the field
Our goal is to announce the Prize at the 2026 APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting in Chicago, with the inaugural nomination cycle opening in 2027.
To permanently establish and sustain the Prize, we are working to raise a $150,000 endowment.
About Bill Dorland
Bill Dorland was a pioneering scientist, mentor, and leader whose work transformed computational plasma physics and influenced generations of researchers across fusion and astrophysical plasma science.
We invite you to learn more about Bill’s remarkable life and career through this memorial site, which includes an autobiographical essay written shortly before his passing:
Thank you for helping us honor Bill’s legacy and support future generations of computational plasma physicists.
Donors like you have helped us to raise $139,093.79 of our $150,000 goal.
Thank you to our donors!
- Anonymous (6)
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems
- Institute for Research In Electronics & Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park
- Journal of Plasma Physics
- Lanyon AI, Inc.
- Realta Fusion Inc.
- Thea Energy, Inc.
- Topical Group in Plasma Astrophysics, APS
- University of Maryland, College Park
- Toby Adkins
- Michael Barnes
- Sabine Berger
- Amitava Bhattacharjee
- Roger Blandford
- Archie Bott
- Isaac Carpio
- Emily Carter
- Troy Carter
- Peter and Sharon Catto
- Benjamin Chandran
- Diego del-Castillo-Negrete
- Theresa Donnelly
- Ionut Farcas
- Cary and Katrina Forest
- Young-chul Ghim
- Kyle Gustafson
- Walter Guttenfelder
- Greg and Kate Hammett
- Neil Hammond
- Jack Hare
- David Hatch
- Edmund and Amber Hood Highcock
- Jacqueline Hopkins
- Gregory Howes
- Robert Kaita
- Anjor Kanekar
- Patrick Kim
- Kristopher Klein
- Margaret Koval
- Karl Krushelnick
- Matthew Kunz
- Matt Landreman
- Sergey Lebedev
- Romain Meyrand
- Michael Nastac
- Ryusuke Numata
- Elizabeth Paul
- John Penniston
- Sarah Penniston-Dorland
- Eliot Quataert
- Casey Radner
- Alexander Schekochihin
- Luis Silva
- Anatoly Spitkovsky
- Jonathan Squire
- Denis St-Onge
- Edward Thomas
- Steven Tobias
- Flannery Wasson
- George Wilkie
- Marissa Zara
- Muni Zhou
- Ellen Zweibel
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