By Jo Ann Mitchell Brasington ’89
Dr. Paul Julienne ’65, an emeritus fellow at the Joint Quantum Institute and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Maryland, was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in May.
He joins 142 others from around the globe for exceptional and ongoing achievements in original research.
“I am both gratified and humbled by this honor, which is only possible because of the many excellent colleagues and students with whom I have worked with over the years,” Julienne said in a publication of the University of Maryland. “I owe them a debt of gratitude, for it is by working together that science advances.”
Julienne helped establish the research field of ultracold matter, which investigates atoms and molecules near absolute zero. His theoretical research includes developing models that describe how cold trapped molecules and atoms can be precisely controlled using magnetic fields or lasers. This research topic has revealed details of atomic states and chemical reactions of ultracold molecules.
After earning his Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1969, Julienne worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Bureau of Standards and Technology and as a staff researcher at the Naval Research Laboratory before beginning a career of nearly 40 years at NIST.