Physics graduate students have been recognized with multiple awards.
Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award: Dr. MacKenzie Warren received the Graduate School's Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Award at this year's graduate commencement. This award is given annually to one graduating Ph.D. student from the College and is the highest honor bestowed on graduate students by Notre Dame. The award recognizes MacKenzie's exceptional research into the roles of neutrino mixing and interactions during supernova explosions as well on-going outreach and mentoring activities. MacKenzie will soon be joining the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University as a postdoc, continuing to study the explosion of core-collapse supernovae.
Department of Physics Research & Dissertation Award: Dr. Andrew Brinkerhoff is this year's winner of our Department's Research & Dissertation Award. Andrew was chosen for this award on the basis of his research leading to his thesis Observation of Top Quark Pairs Produced in Association with a W or Z Boson in PP Collisions at the LHC. Andrew's work was the first experimental confirmation that the top quark couples to the Z boson, a prediction of the Standard Model. Since leaving Notre Dame, Andrew has taken a postdoctoral position at the University of Florida.
Kaneb Center's Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award: Bryce Frentz has been awarded a Kaneb Outstanding Graduate Teaching award for his work in our department. Bryce has done an excellent job in a broad range of positions for us, including in tutorial and lab sections for engineering physics as well as our Introduction to Nuclear Physics course.