John Collins Wins 2009 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics

John Collins, a Penn State distinguished professor of physics, has won the 2009 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Physics for his work in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. The prize is given annually to physicists to recognize and encourage their outstanding achievements in particle theory. Collins shares the award with Dave Soper , a professor of physics at the University of Oregon, and Keith Ellis, a physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

A theoretical physicist, Collins focuses on the theory of strong nuclear interaction in elementary particles, known as quantum chromodynamics (QCD). He has played a vital role in formulating and proving many of the mathematical results that underly QCD calculations. Without the aid of these results, it would not be possible to interpret experimental data produced by modern high-energy particle accelerators or to use the accelerators to search for new phenomena. The result is that these accelerators now can be used, in effect, as microscopes to probe fundamental physics at distance scales on the order of a hundredth or a thousandth the size of a proton.

In 2008, Collins was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was recognized with a Penn State Faculty Scholar Medal in 2002 and a Humboldt Research Award for Senior Scientists in 2000.

From 1996 to 1997, Collins was a scientific associate at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, on the French-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. He joined Penn State in 1990 as a professor of physics. From 1980 to 1990, he worked at the Illinois Institute for Technology as an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. From 1986 to 1987 he was a Guggenheim fellow. In 1985, he was named a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He was at Princeton University as an assistant professor from 1976 to 1980 and as a research associate from 1975 to 1976. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics at King's College in Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1971, and a doctoral degree in theoretical physics at Cambridge University in 1975.

CONTACTS:

John Collins: (+1) 814-863-0783, jcc8@psu.edu

Barbara Kennedy (PIO): (+1) 814-863-4682, science@psu.edu