People
Faculty
Martin Guthold
Department Chair, Professor of Physics
Biophysics
Atomic force and fluorescence microscopy of biological samples, and mechanical properties of biological fibers and molecules
Office: 302 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 213 Olin Physical Laboratory
Fred Salsbury
Physics Graduate Program Director, Professor of Physics
Biophysics
Computational and theoretical biophysics, molecular physics, and drug discovery
301A Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 305B Olin Physical Laboratory
Timo Thonhauser
Wright Family Professor of Physics and Director of Center for Functional Materials, Associate Chair
Condensed Matter
Theoretical and computational condensed matter physics
303A Olin Physical Laboratory
Alejandro Cárdenas-Avendaño
Assistant Professor of Physics
Astrophysics
Theoretical and computational astrophysics, gravitational waves produced by extreme mass-ratio inspirals, black hole photon rings, and tests of general relativity
Olin Physical Laboratory
Keith Bonin
Professor of Physics and Richard T. Williams Faculty Chair in Physics
Biophysics
Optics, biophysics, and microscopy
Office: 310 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 200 Olin Physical Laboratory
Eric D. Carlson
Associate Professor of Physics
Gravitation and Particle Physics
Particle physics and astrophysics
306 Olin Physical Laboratory
David Carroll
Professor of Physics
Condensed Matter
Nanostructures, low-dimensional systems, biotechnology, and microscopy
Office: 108A Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: Nanotechnology Center
Sam Cho
Associate Professor and Shively Family Faculty Fellow
Biophysics
Computational biophysics, protein and RNA folding, biomolecular assembly, molecular machines, and GPU-based programming
301B Olin Physical Laboratory | Manchester 228
Greg Cook
Associate Professor of Physics and ZSR Foundation Fellow
Gravitation and Particle Physics
Theoretical and computational general relativity, gravitational waves produced by black-hole and neutron-star binaries, and high-accuracy modeling of black holes
304 Olin Physical Laboratory
Emilie Huffman
Assistant Professor of Physics
Condensed Matter
Computational condensed matter and lattice field theory
308 Olin Physical Laboratory
Oana D. Jurchescu
Baker Physics Professor
Condensed Matter
Experimental condensed matter physics, organic and flexible electronics
217 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 209B Olin Physical Laboratory
Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro
Professor of Physics and Harbert Family Distinguished Chair for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship
Biophysics
Experimental and some computational biophysics, nitric oxide, hemoglobin and other heme proteins, blood flow, and Sickle cell and other cardiovascular diseases
208 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 216 Olin Physical Laboratory
Jed Macosko
Professor of Physics
Biophysics
Mechanics of protein machines
Office: 215 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 213 Olin Physical Laboratory
Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada
Assistant Professor of Physics and ZSR Foundation Faculty Fellow
Condensed Matter
Experimental condensed matter physics
212 Olin Physical Laboratory | Lab: 209A Olin Physical Laboratory
Stephen M. Winter
Associate Professor of Physics
Condensed Matter
Theoretical condensed matter physics
214 Olin Physical Laboratory
Caitlin Witt
Assistant Professor of Physics
Gravitation and Particle Physics
Supermassive black hole binaries, gravitational waves, pulsars, active galactic nuclei, and computational astrophysics
305A Olin Physical Laboratory
Research Faculty
Stephen Baker
Research Assistant Professor
K. Burak Üçer
Research Associate Professor
Condensed Matter
Ultrafast laser physics and spectroscopy, optical materials
305D Olin Physical Laboratory
Paul Anderson
Research Professor (Retired)
General relativity, quantum field theory, and cosmology
308 Olin Physical Laboratory
Natalie A. W. Holzwarth
Research Professor (Retired)
Condensed Matter
Theoretical solid state physics, computer simulations of electronic and structural properties of solids
300 Olin Physical Laboratory
William C. Kerr
Research Professor and Emeritus Professor
Condensed Matter
Theoretical solid state and statistical physics, computer simulation studies of phase transitions, and soliton effects in condensed matter
216 Olin Physical Laboratory
Howard W. Shields
Research Professor of Physics
Solid state physics, biophysics, electron spin resonance studies in irradiated organic solids of biological interest, high temperature superconductors, and structural phase changes
Affiliate and Adjunct Faculty
Andrew S. Barelli
Senior Enterprise & Product Risk Manager at Revolut
J. Daniel Bourland
Professor of Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering
Adam R. Hall
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Basic and applied nanobiotechnology
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Erin Henslee
Associate Professor of Engineering
Medical Physics or Engineering
Red blood cell electrophysiology, cell separation and patterning, and understanding electrophysiological parameters
455 Vine Street, Bldg 60 South, Room 4511
Lauren E. L. Lowman
Associate Professor of Engineering
Engineering
Land-atmosphere interactions, hydrometeorology, ecohydrology, remote sensing, fluid dynamics, numerical, and statistical modeling
Wake Downtown 4509
Michael Munley
Professor of Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering
Medical Physics
Radiosurgery, lung neoplasms, brain neoplasms, radiotherapy planning, computer-assisted, and trigeminal neuralgia
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Mark W. Roberson
President of Goldfinch Sensor Technologies and Analytics LLC
Research Associates
Angika Bulbul
Postdoctoral Fellow
Optical imaging and quantum optics, incoherent synthetic aperture, digital holography, diffractive optics, classical optics, biomedical optics, optical computing, and image processing
200 Olin Physical Laboratory
Staff
Bob Morris
Laboratory Technician
112 Olin Physical Laboratory
Joe Showalter
Machine Shop Instructor
112 Olin Physical Laboratory
Department history
In Memoriam
We remember former Wake Forest Physics faculty members whose teaching, research, and leadership shaped the department.
George M. Holzwarth
May 7, 1937 – March 13, 2024
Experimental biophysicist and dedicated mentor who helped students publish and present their first research.
Richard T. Williams
May 27, 1946 – July 5, 2021
Founding leader of the Ph.D. program and the department’s first endowed professor.
George P. “Jack” Williams Jr.
January 23, 1925 – November 8, 2015
Department chair from 1974 to 1990 who helped establish the Ph.D. program and Olin Physical Laboratory.
Robert W. “Bob” Brehme
1930 – February 23, 2016
Beloved teacher of mechanics, electromagnetism, and relativity, remembered for his clarity and generosity.