Judy Cha, Ph.D. ’09, professor of materials science and engineering in Cornell Engineering, and Yuval Grossman, professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, have been elected as fellows of the American Physical Society (APS).

The fellowship program recognizes physicists who have made exceptional contributions in physics research; important applications of physics, leadership in or service to physics; or significant contributions to physics education.

Cha, who is also the Lester B. Knight Director of the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility, focuses her research on synthesis and transport properties of topological and 2D nanomaterials and their phase transformations in order to understand the structure-electronic property relationships of these quantum nanomaterials. The APS cited her pioneering contributions in the development of nanoscale synthesis and characterization methods for topological nanomaterials, resulting in enhanced properties of the topological electronic states for device applications and fundamental studies.

Grossman works in the field of high-energy physics phenomenology, which explores physics beyond the Standard Model. He was elected to APS for “seminal contributions in flavor physics.” (“Flavor” refers to the species of an elementary particle - there are six flavors of quarks and six of leptons in the Standard Model.) The APS cited Grossman’s work in the “physics of the D mesons, CP violation in the B system, and novel flavor physics from extra dimensions.”

With a focus on interpreting experimental data and suggesting new analyses to be done with running and near future experiments, Grossman’s interests span a wide range of topics in high-energy physics, including astroparticle physics, neutrinos and collider phenomenology.

APS fellowship is limited to no more than 0.5% of all APS members in a given year. There were 149 elected APS fellows this year. A total of 146 Cornell researchers have been elected since the fellowship was established in 1921.

Linda B. Glaser is news and media relations manager for the College of Arts and Sciences.