NIST Physicist Wins MacArthur 'Genius' Grant

NIST Physicist Wins MacArthur 'Genius' Grant

Deborah Jin, 34, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colo., and adjoint assistant professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder), has been named a 2003 winner of a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “genius grant.” The fellowship is awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of Chicago. Jin is a fellow of JILA, a laboratory run by NIST and CU-Boulder. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. The fellowship is a “no strings attached” award in support of people, not projects. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $500,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years. “NIST congratulates Deborah Jin for receiving this tremendous honor,” commented NIST Director Arden Bement Jr. “The MacArthur Fellowship goes to persons of unlimited creativity and originality, unwavering dedication to the pursuit of excellence, and unending commitment to the betterment of others. Deborah exemplifies all of these characteristics and more.” In 1999, Jin and graduate student Brian DeMarco created a new quantum gas that was named one of the top 10 scientific advances of the year by the journal Science. They cooled a vapor of quantum particles to a temperature less than a millionth of a degree above absolute zero using lasers and magnetic traps. The result was a quantum state in which atoms behave like waves. Jin and DeMarco's research is a step toward a better understanding of fermions—basic building blocks of matter—and may lead toward a new generation of atomic clocks and atom lasers. (For more details go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/jin.htm.)
Copyright is owned by the photographer. This photo is available without charge for use in materials that describe NIST programs directly. All other uses require permission from the photographer. For further information or to receive a high resolution version of this image contact: inquiries@nist.gov, (301) 975-6478.
Quantum Physics Division Physics Laboratory NIST Image Gallery Last updated: September 29, 2008

NIST Physicist Deborah Jin in her laboratory at JILA.

Deborah Jin, 34, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colo., and adjoint assistant professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder), has been named a 2003 winner of a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “genius grant.” The fellowship is awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of Chicago.

Jin is a fellow of JILA, a laboratory run by NIST and CU-Boulder.

The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. The fellowship is a “no strings attached” award in support of people, not projects. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $500,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years.

“NIST congratulates Deborah Jin for receiving this tremendous honor,” commented NIST Director Arden Bement Jr. “The MacArthur Fellowship goes to persons of unlimited creativity and originality, unwavering dedication to the pursuit of excellence, and unending commitment to the betterment of others. Deborah exemplifies all of these characteristics and more.”

In 1999, Jin and graduate student Brian DeMarco created a new quantum gas that was named one of the top 10 scientific advances of the year by the journal Science. They cooled a vapor of quantum particles to a temperature less than a millionth of a degree above absolute zero using lasers and magnetic traps. The result was a quantum state in which atoms behave like waves. Jin and DeMarco's research is a step toward a better understanding of fermions—basic building blocks of matter—and may lead toward a new generation of atomic clocks and atom lasers. (For more details go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/jin.htm.)

Copyright is owned by the photographer. This photo is available without charge for use in materials that describe NIST programs directly. All other uses require permission from the photographer. For further information or to receive a high resolution version of this image contact: inquiries@nist.gov, (301) 975-6478.

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Last updated: September 29, 2008