Gregory W. Hammett *86, William Dorland *93, and Alexander Philippov *17, all graduate alumni of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences,  have received awards from the American Physical Society (APS) for their work in plasma physics.

Gregory W. Hammett *86, a PPPL theoretical and computational principal research physicist and William Dorland *93, former Associate Laboratory director for Computational Sciences at  PPPL,  received the 2024 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, for pioneering work in kinetic plasma turbulence that revolutionizes turbulent transport calculations for magnetic confinement devices and inspires research in astrophysical plasma turbulence.

For more information on their work and the award, please visit the PPPL website.

Alexander Philippov *17, Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, has received the 2024 Thomas H. Stix Award for Outstanding Early Career Contributions to Plasma Physics Research, for seminal contributions to the theory and simulation of collisionless astrophysical plasmas, especially compact objects.  Thomas Stix, for whom the award is named, was a  professor in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences, and served for many years as Director of the Plasma Physics Program at Princeton.  For more information on Phillipov’s  work and the award, please visit the APS website.

Tragically, William Dorland passed away after a decades-long battle with cancer soon after learning that he received the Maxwell Prize.  We have posted a separate news item recognizing his passing.