Carl Wieman, PhD

Carl Wieman’s persistence served him well in pursuing the research that resulted in winning the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics, with Eric Allin Cornell and Wolfgang Ketterle, for the production of the first true Bose-Einstein condensate. Carl served as Associate Director for Science in President Obama’s White House Office of Science and Technology from 2010 to 2013. In 2004, he was named United States Professor of the Year among all doctoral and research universities. Carl, Hertz Fellow 1973, is recognized as a national leader and advocate to improve undergraduate science education and science instruction. His research delves into detailed analysis of how scientists think, and how to most effectively teach this scientific thinking. Carl earned a BS from MIT in 1973, and his PhD from Stanford in 1977. In a 2007 interview with the Nobel committee, Carl describes his life perspective on his all-consuming passions—including science, chess, and tennis. “My view of everything is that you become good at something by focusing and working hard at it.”