UMD Professor Named Scientist of the Year

UMD Professor Named Scientist of the Year

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – University of Maryland physics professor Sylvester James "Jim" Gates, Jr., has been named the 2014 Scientist of the Year by students and faculty of the Harvard Foundation.

The award recognizes internationally noted scientists for their remarkable scientific achievements and for promoting initiatives that serve to increase diversity in all areas of science, engineering and mathematics.

Gates is known for his work in supersymmetry and supergravity, areas closely related to superstring theory, which seeks to describe the fundamental matter of the universe and is sometimes referred to as a “theory of everything.”

He is UMD’s John S.Toll Professor of Physics and director of the Center for String and Particle Theory.

In 2013, Gates received the National Medal of Science by President Obama, was awarded the 2013 Mendel Medal by Villanova University, was named a University System of Maryland Regents Professor, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

The Scientist of the Year award will be presented on March 28, 2014, by the president of Harvard University, the dean of Harvard College and the director of the Harvard Foundation.

February 21, 2014

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