John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics, sponsored by the Sony Corporation
John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics, sponsored by the Sony Corporation
The Sony Corporation established the John Bardeen Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics in 1989 to honor the legacy of Professor Bardeen.
John Bardeen was an established force in physics when he joined the University of Illinois faculty in 1951. While working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, he became interested in semiconductors and with W. H. Brattain discovered the transistor effect in late 1947. At Illinois, Bardeen established two major research programs, one in the Physics Department focusing on theoretical aspects of macroscopic quantum systems, particularly superconductivity and quantum liquids, and one in the Electrical Engineering Department dealing with both experimental and theoretical aspects of semiconductors.
The microscopic theory of superconductivity, developed in collaboration with L. N. Cooper and J. R. Schrieffer in 1956 and 1957, has had profound implications for nearly every field of physics, from elementary particle to nuclear and the helium liquids to neutron stars. During his 60-year scientific career, Bardeen made significant contributions to almost every aspect of condensed matter physics, from his early work on the electronic behavior of metals, the surface properties of semiconductors, and the theory of diffusion of atoms in crystals to his later work on quasi-one-dimensional metals. In his 83rd year, he continued to publish original scientific papers.
The only person to win two Nobel Prizes in Physics (1956 and 1972), Bardeen was a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He served on the U.S. President’s Science Advisory Committee from 1959 to 1962 and on the White House Science Council in 1981. He was a recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Science (1965) and the Lomonosov Award (Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1987). Bardeen was named by Life Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Adapted from the website of the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois.
Faculty:
Yurii A Vlasov joined Illinois in 2016; previously, he held research and managerial positions at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. While at IBM, Vlasov pioneered and developed integrated silicon nanophotonics. The technology integrated electrical and optical devices on the same silicon chip, which enabled the chips to communicate using pulses of light as opposed to electrical signals. This innovation, which is deployed for commercial production through GlobalFoundries, is enabling high-performance optical connectivity in supercomputers, cloud data centers, and telecommunications, while significantly reducing cost and maximizing energy efficiency.
At Illinois, his research has pivoted to integrated neuro technologies. He established the Integrated Neurotechnology lab devoted to the development of advanced engineering approaches aimed at reverse engineering of the brain circuits, with the goal of getting insights on how our brain works to enable novel clinical treatments of neurological disorders. In 2021 Vlasov was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He was recognized for his contributions to the development and commercialization of silicon photonics for optical data communications.