Awards Received by Faculty, Staff and Students

Timo Thonhauser has been awarded the title Wright Family Professor in Physics. He is the founding Director of the new Center for Functional Materials and was promoted to the rank of Full Professor on July 1, 2019. The Wake Forest Professorships are endowed positions and are among the highest honors the institution can bestow on our faculty members. The selection criteria included: exceptional skill and sustained dedication in the classroom; outstanding commitment to student learning and growth beyond the classroom; a wide-reaching and significant record in scholarly and creative work; and sustained exemplary service to the Department, the discipline, the College, the University, and the broader scholarly community.

Three physics majors were named Goldwater Scholars for the 2019-2020 academic year! They are Robert Bradford, Noah Meyer, and Fernando Rigal. The three were chosen from a pool of 1,200 natural science, engineering, and mathematics students who were nominated by 443 academic institutions. Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic and research credentials that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. A maximum of three scholars are awarded to any single university in a given year and this is the first year that Wake Forest has had three winners. Robert Bradford is currently a senior physics major/math minor doing research with professor Oana Jurchescu; Noah Meyer is currently a junior physics/applied mathematics major doing research with professor Timo Thonhauser; and Fernando Rigal is currently a junior physics/applied mathematics major doing research with professor Daniel Kim-Shapiro.

Physics Department Outstanding Service Award. Graduate Student Daniel Vickers won the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Graduate student Andrew Zeidell won the Peer Mentor Award. Zach Lamport and Peiyun Li were co-recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Research Award. Jacquelyn Sharpe won the Speas award.