Nobel Prize-winning physicist to join faculty and work with researchers

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Mar 19, 2012

Samuel Ting
Samuel Ting
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Samuel Ting is joining the faculty of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Department of Physics and Astronomy while maintaining his home position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge.
 
Ting is the founder and principal investigator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment, an international effort currently involving 600 scientists from 60 institutions in 16 countries that is being conducted from the International Space Station.
 
UH Mānoa is home to one of the U.S. AMS Data Centers supporting this effort.  The AMS is a sophisticated cosmic-ray detector that opens up new possibilities for high-energy physics research to include addressing fundamental questions about the origin of our universe.
 
Ting, who will not receive compensation for his work at UH Mānoa, said he is looking forward to his affiliation with the flagship campus within the UH system.  “AMS is a unique physical science experiment onboard the International Space Station and, since its deployment in May 2011, billions of cosmic ray events have been collected from the far reaches of space,” he said. “As spokesman of the AMS Collaboration, I am delighted that the University of Hawai‘i has joined this project and is the first AMS Data Analysis Center in the United States. I greatly look forward to working with the distinguished scientists and students at UH Mānoa in exploring this new realm of knowledge.”
 
Added Mānoa Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw, “This is truly exciting news for our University, because it highlights the opportunities for world-class researchers here at the Mānoa campus. Dr. Ting is internationally respected as the leading expert in his field and an outstanding mentor for young scientists.  Interacting with him is both a professional and personal delight.  We are highly enthusiastic about his joining our UH Mānoa faculty.”
 
Said UH President M.R.C. Greenwood, “We are extremely honored to have such a distinguished scientist of the caliber of Dr. Ting willing to work with us as we continue to expand our world-class research enterprises at the University of Hawai‘i.”
 
In 1976, Ting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in high-energy physics that led to the discovery of a novel elementary particle.  He has received numerous awards and is also a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences, among many others.
 
Ting served as Commencement speaker for UH Mānoa’s mid-year graduation exercises in December 2010 at the Stan Sheriff Center.