2024 Charles Hard Townes Medal Winner

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Optica Names Franco Nori the 2024 Charles Hard Townes Medal Recipient

Optica (formerly OSA) is pleased to announce that Franco Nori, RIKEN, Japan, and University of Michigan, USA, has been selected as the 2024 recipient of the Charles Hard Townes Medal. Nori is honored for his many fundamental contributions to quantum optics, quantum information processing, and quantum circuits, and for the development of key quantum software tools.

Nori received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois, USA and then completed postdoctoral research work at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (now KITP), at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, becoming a full Professor and Research Scientist in its Physics Department. He is also a RIKEN Chief Scientist, leading their "Theoretical Quantum Physics Laboratory" and serving as a Team Leader of the "Quantum Information Theory Research Team", in the RIKEN Quantum Computing Center.

His research group has done pioneering interdisciplinary studies at the interface between quantum optics, quantum electronics, quantum information, nanoscience, optomechanics, dissipative quantum open systems, superconducting quantum circuitry for quantum computing, photonics, atomic physics with quantum circuits, computational physics, and condensed matter physics.

Nori has received several awards including the W.E. Lamb Medal, the Matsuo Foundation's Prize for Research in Physics and the Prize for Science, by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. He is a Fellow of Optica, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Physics. He is also an elected Member of the Academia Europaea, the Latin American Academy of Sciences, and a Foreign Member of the Swedish Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, in Gothenburg, Sweden.

He has been listed by the Web of Science as a "Highly Cited Researcher" in Physics (covering all areas of Physics) for the past seven consecutive years: from 2017 to 2023 (Less than 0.1% of physicists are selected). According to the Web of Science: >66K citations and h-index > 117 (Google Scholar: > 92K citations and h-index >134).

Established in 1980, the Townes Medal recognizes an individual or group for outstanding experimental or theoretical work, discovery or invention in the field of quantum electronics. The medal honors Charles Hard Townes, whose pioneering contributions to masers and lasers led to the development of the field of quantum electronics. Bell Laboratories, Hewlett-Packard, The Perkin Fund and students and colleagues of Charles Townes endowed the award.

About Optica

Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.