In an interview, Yale quantum physicist Charles D. Brown II reflects on his entry into the scientific life — and his research in quantum simulation.
The next time you’re at the public library, be sure to make a mental note of the kid at a nearby table soaking up a biography of Albert Einstein. That kid might be the next generation’s Charles D. Brown II, quantum physicist.
Brown, who joined Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics last month, fell under the spell of physics in middle school at his local library in Las Vegas, where he read about Einstein and his work in gravitational physics.
Brown would go on to earn an undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, a Ph.D. in physics from Yale in 2019, and conduct postdoctoral research at the University of California-Berkeley.
He received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2014, the D. Allan Bromley Fellowship for Graduate Research in Physics from Yale in 2017, the National Academies Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in 2018, co-founded the Yale League of Black Scientists, received a National Academies Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020, was awarded the 2021 Quantum Creators Prize, and is one of the lead organizers of #BlackInPhysics week, an effort to recognize and promote the scientific accomplishments of Black physicists.
In an interview with Yale News, Brown discusses what sparked his curiosity about the universe, the scientific discovery that continues to amaze him, his own research into the exotic properties of quantum materials — and why his life as a scientist is so much more dynamic than he ever expected.
This article is excerpted from the Yale News article of February 1, 2023 by Jim Shelton. Please see below for the full article and other related links.