Mingzhong Wu, professor in the Department of Physics and Director of the Center for Advanced Magnetics, a Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence, has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
This honor is the latest in a series of recognitions for Wu who became a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers earlier this year and was named a College of Natural Sciences Professor Laureate in 2019.
“This is an incredible and well-deserved honor for Mingzhong who has greatly contributed to the Department of Physics and the discipline of physics throughout his career,” said Jan Nerger, dean of the College of Natural Sciences. “As the director of the Center for Advanced Magnetics, Mingzhong has pursued groundbreaking research and educated the next generation of physicists. Congratulations to a wonderful colleague.”
The American Physical Society describes a fellow as someone who has made “advances in physics through original research and publication or made significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology … or made significant contributions to the teaching of physics or service.” Wu’s colleagues said they see him as someone who has made contributions in all of these areas.
Carl Patton, emeritus professor in the Department of Physics, nominated Wu for the fellowship. In his nomination, Patton described Wu’s influence on the department.
“From his start in my research group at CSU in 2002, nearly two decades ago, Dr. Wu rapidly became the mainstay of my program,” he said. “I have watched with awe as he has taken the overall CSU-physics magnetics program to new, unimaginable heights. He has become renowned in key technologically important areas of applied magnetics and spintronics, a great mentor and teacher at all levels, and a respected leader in the magnetism community.”
Wu sees this honor as not only belonging to him, but also to all the people who he has worked with over the years.
“I am very excited and feel highly honored,” Wu said. “I also feel that this is actually an honor to our physics department because my research program at CSU has involved collaborations with a number of people in the department and has been strongly supported by various colleagues in the department.”
Looking to the future of his program, Wu explained that he is excited to continue pushing the boundaries of our current knowledge.
“There are many interesting yet important topics to work within our field,” he said. “I am very interested in topological quantum materials in particular. Such materials host exotic physical properties that could be used for topological quantum computing and quantum sensing.”
According to Wu’s colleagues, they see him as a leader and feel his fellowship was well deserved.
“I was very happy when Mingzhong received this recognition,” said Jacob Roberts, chair of the Department of Physics. “Mingzhong’s work is remarkable in its sustained level of excellence, its breadth, and its originality. In addition to Mingzhong being a highly talented physicist, he has also created a research group that produces wonderful achievements from students and researchers at all levels, from high school interns to post-doctoral research associates. This recognition for Mingzhong is very well-deserved.”
