Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, who has done pioneering work in the fields of theoretical physics and materials innovation, was recently appointed the Strathcona Professor of Applied Physics and professor of Physics and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, effective immediately.
He is a faculty member at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) and the Department of Applied Physics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Ismail-Beigi joined the Yale faculty in the Departments of Applied Physics and Physics in 2003, following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. An ongoing part of his work has focused on the important problem of the nature of excited electronic states, electronic processes involving excitations, and effective methods for modelling the behavior of electrons with strong interactions. With a broad knowledge about physical systems, he has created tools to solve a wide variety of problems connected with explaining the properties of materials. He has a diverse research portfolio, with studies that span a broad spectrum of materials, including lower dimensional materials, nanostructures, polar materials, semiconductors, ferroelectrics, interfaces, and metal oxides. He was elected an American Physical Society (APS) Fellow in 2019. He was honored this year with an award recognizing him as an Outstanding Referee of the Physical Review journals.
Ismail-Beigi is internationally renowned for his contributions to theoretical research. He is also widely known for his skills as a communicator of science, with an ability to describe complex and nuanced science clearly and effectively. He is also a popular teacher, mentor, and collaborator. An exemplary colleague and university citizen, he generously contributes to mentoring, personnel searches, and academic committee work on many levels; indeed, he participated in the SEAS Strategic Vision committee, is currently chairing the SEAS Materials committee and he serves as co-chair of the university-wide planning committee for Yale’s Physical Sciences and Engineering Building.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This story was taken from the Yale News story of May 10, 2023. See below for the original story.