People
scientists and dreamers
Lu J. Sham
Research Areas
Specialized in condensed matter physics. Current interest is in basic issues in optical control, measurement of and environmental effects on electron spins in semiconductor quantum dots, for possible applications to quantum information processing and spintronics. Past experience was in many-body interaction theory in solids, including electrons and quantized vibrations in crystals; density functional theory and solution of the band-gap problem; linear and nonlinear optical properties in semiconductors.
Education
| School | Degree | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Pui-Ching Middle School, Kowloon, Hong Kong | Graduation certificate | 1951-55 |
| Portsmouth College of Technology, England | GCE O and A Level | 1955-57 |
| Imperial College, University of London, England | Mathematics, B.Sc. | 1960 |
| University of Cambridge, England | Physics Ph.D. | 1963 |
| University of California, San Diego | Condensed Matter Theory Postdoc | 1963-66 |
UCSD Appointments
| Dates | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/05 - present | Adjunct Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| 11/04 - present | Distinguished Professor of Physics |
| 8/95 - 7/98 | Chair, Department of Physics |
| 9/91 - 7/95 | Director, Inst. for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences |
| 11/85 - 6/89 | Dean, Division of Natural Sciences |
Major Honors and Awards
Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and to Academia Sinica, Taiwan; Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Optical Society of America.
Humboldt Foundation Award, Germany, February, 1978; Chancellor's Associates Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, UCSD 1994; Visiting Miller Professorship, University of California Berkeley (1998), elected Faculty Lecturer by the Academic Senate, University of California, 2001; San Diego, C.N. Yang Visiting Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001; W.E. Lamb medal for Laser Science and Quantum Optics, 2004; and Doctorate honoris causa, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, and Baptist University, Hong Kong; 2006.
Physics Community Service
- Associate Editor, Phys. Letters A, c. 1991-2002.
- Physical Review Letters, Divisional Associate Editor for 3 years.
- Member of the Executive Board (1995-7) and the Council (1993-7) of the American Physical Society and of the Executive Committee of its Division of Condensed Matter Physics (1993-7). Continued to serve as a Friend of APS to introduce the Society to graduate students.
- Chair (1991-7) of the Semiconductor Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, working to make semiconductor physics research dissemination worldwide.
- Review and Advisory Committees for Federal Agencies and National Research Council.