The American Physical Society has recognized chemical engineering faculty Rebecca Lindsey and Sharon Glotzer for their respective contributions to the fields of high-pressure material studies and chemical physics.
The American Physical Society has recognized chemical engineering faculty Rebecca Lindsey, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Sharon Glotzer, Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering, for their respective contributions to the fields of high-pressure material studies and chemical physics.
The American Physical Society annually recognizes exceptional contributions to the physics community, as well as scientists who represent the dedication, innovation, and determination needed to advance physics to benefit humanity.
Rebecca Lindsey has been selected for the 2025 Neil Ashcroft Early Career Award for Studies of Matter at Extreme High Pressure Conditions in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the creation of machine learning models of reactive materials, including those under detonation conditions, nano-carbon synthesis, and cluster condensation in molecular liquids under extreme conditions. Her research has opened new possibilities in the study of matter at high pressure, offering important implications for both fundamental science and practical applications in areas like energy and synthesis science.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Neil Ashcroft Early Career Award,” said Lindsey. “This recognition reflects not only my work but also the invaluable support of my colleagues and mentors in the American Physical Society Topical Group on Compression of Condensed Matter. I am equally grateful to my dedicated students, whose creativity and hard work continue to grow the impact of our research.”
Before joining the University of Michigan, Lindsey led research teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Energetic Materials Center, where she focused on understanding material behavior under extreme (i.e., high temperature and pressure) and highly non-equilibrium conditions. There, she developed AI-driven simulation tools enabling to quantum-accurate simulation on previously inaccessible scales. Using these tools, she helped develop a new ultra-fast method for carbon nanomaterial synthesis based on laser-induced shockwaves.
Since joining the University of Michigan in 2023, Lindsey has continued to drive advancements in materials research through her development of AI-driven simulation tools. Her current work emphasizes democratizing AI-driven simulation by increasing efficiency, reproducibility, and robustness of these tools. These models are being used to achieve an atomistic understanding of how materials evolve under extreme conditions, particularly in shock compression environments. By harnessing these insights, Lindsey’s team is working to design next-generation nanomaterials with applications that extend into quantum computing, catalysis, energy storage, drug delivery, and national security.
Sharon Glotzer has been awarded the 2025 Irving Langmuir Award in Chemical Physics, which recognizes outstanding interdisciplinary research in chemistry and physics.
“Sharon has earned this prestigious honor for her groundbreaking and creative work on the critical role of shape entropy in colloidal assemblies of various types,” said Nicholas Kotov, the Irving Langmuir Distinguished University Professor of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at U-M. “She also developed methods to predict, measure, and engineer entropic bonding in colloidal shapes, which is essential for advancing our understanding of complex particle systems.”
Glotzer’s research has influenced the computational and experimental nanoscience communities, introducing transformative concepts such as “patchy particles” and “entropic bonding” that have reshaped the understanding of nanoscale self-assembly. Her simulations, which predict a variety of nanoparticle structures and colloidal crystals, have been instrumental in advancing materials science. In one landmark study, her simulations predicted that hard tetrahedral nanoparticles could form quasicrystals—a finding experimentally confirmed in 2023.
Her group has developed several open-source software packages, now widely used in materials research globally.
Beyond research, Glotzer holds numerous titles, including the John Werner Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering. She is also a leader in the NSF-funded Center for Complex Particle Systems (COMPASS), where she continues to explore the principles of particle behavior and assembly. Her work has been published extensively and cited by researchers around the world, underscoring her profound impact on materials science and nanotechnology.
The American Physical Society is one of the world’s largest organizations of physicists, working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. These awards reflect the society’s commitment to recognizing exceptional contributions to physics across various career stages and specializations.