The Physics department celebrated its 2023-2024 graduates with a diploma ceremony on Sunday, May 12 at the Love Auditorium & Hall of Science, following Duke's main commencement event.
The program included a celebratory lunch and a welcome address by Professor Steffen Bass, Chair of the Physics department. Following the welcome address, Professors Ayana Arce, Director of Undergraduate Studies, John Mercer, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies and Mark Kruse, Director of Graduate Studies, presented diplomas to all graduates with a degree in Physics.
Benjamin Grady Armentrout
Michael Alexander Bell ΣΠΣ
Emilia D. Cordon
Arianna Michelle Dwomoh
Melia Diane Fox
Vikram Kumar Manocha
Ahaan Shantanu Nalavadi
Jerone Ravosh Samari
Alexander Dun Yin Tongvv ΣΠΣ; Chang Award
Second Majors in Physics
Haris Adnan
Torda Bordas
Timothy Karl Koh
Alexander Christian Migala** ΣΠΣ; McCormick Award
Santino W. Panzica
Judd Wilson Staples Jr.
Vinnessa Mese Van
Ashrit Verma*
Malaika Ghosh Bhayana
Tajuan Gibbison
Lauren Adele Puig
Sophia Corbett Wilson
Tianfang Yu*
Andres Felipe Cordoba ΣΠΣ
Alison Catherine Korn
William Augustus Milhizer
Derrick Roseman
Benjamin Ari Schussheim
Alexander Christian Migala: Graduation with High Distinction (Advisor: Kate Scholberg) – Neutrino Mass Ordering Study **ΣΠΣ
Alexander Dun Yin Tong: Graduation with High Distinction (Advisor: Michael Troxel) – Lensing of Cosmic Filaments ** ΣΠΣ
Ashrit Verma: Graduation with Distinction (Advisor: Chris Monroe) – Scaling Trapped-Ion Quantum Computers through Photonic Interconnects*
Tianfang Yu: Graduation with Distinction (Advisor: J. Mercer; S. Gerecht; C. F. Schmidt) – Vascular Engineering and Physiology*
* Graduation with Distinction – Requires a significant thesis with originality and thesis defense.
** Graduation with High Distinction – Highest Honor in Physics. Requires a thesis comparable to papers in peer reviewed journals and unanimous support from thesis committee members.
ΣΠΣ: Physics Honor Society
Rodney I. McCormick Award: This award commemorates a former Associate Director of the Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory, Rod McCormick, and is given in recognition of the research accomplishments of a physics undergraduate student.
Daphne Y. Chang Award: This award commemorates Daphne Y. Chang (Trinity 2005), a Duke Physics major with an outstanding record of research and contributions in the department who passed away in 2009.
Derek Soeder
Austin Hulse
Summer 2023
Dr. Yu Feng
Dr. Thai Son Nguyen
Dr. Nathan Wilson
Fall 2023
Dr. Baran Bodur
Dr. Utsav Patel
Spring 2024
Dr. Joel Bierman
Dr. Elise le Boulicaut Ennis
Dr. Reed Hodges
Dr. Adryanna Major
Dr. Jameson O’Reilly
Dr. James Runge
Dr. Andrew Smith
Dr. Yikang Zhang
Baran Bodur: [Advisor: Kate Scholberg] — Measurement of Atmospheric Flux-Weighted ne – 16O Cross Section with the Super-Kamiokande Experiment.
Joel Bierman: [Advisor: Jianfeng Lu] — Improving the Qubit-Efficiency of Quantum Algorithms for the Electronic Structure Problem Using Orbital Optimization.
Elise le Boulicaut Ennis: [Advisor: Mark Kruse] — Search for Top-Philic Heavy Resonances Using the Single-Lepton Decay Channel in pp Collisions at 13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector.
Yu Feng: [Advisor: Nicolas Brunel] — Robust Information Storage and Consolidation in Attractor Neural Networks.
Reed Hodges: [Advisor: Thomas Mehen] — Studies of T+cc decays and Transverse-Momentum-Dependent J/Psi production using Effective Field Theory.
Adryanna Major: [Advisor: Kate Scholberg] — Coherent Elastic Neutrino - Nucleus Scattering in Large-Scale Scintillators.
Thai Son Nguyen: [Advisor: Roxanne Springer] — Effective Field Theory Studies of Few-Nucleon Systems: Fundamental Symmetry Violation, Electromagnetic Interactions, and Direct Detection of Dark Matter.
Jameson O’Reilly: [Advisor: Christopher Monroe] — New Techniques for Fast and High-Fidelity Trapped Ion Photonic Interconnects.
Utsav Patel: [Advisor: Mark Kruse] — Search for Light Fermiophobic Charged Higgs Bosons from Proton-Proton Collisions at 13 TeV using the ATLAS Detector.
James Runge: [Advisor: Phil Barbeau] — Pair Transfer Reactions and Nuclear Matrix Elements for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay.
Andrew Smith: [Advisor: Haiyan Gao] — A Measurement of the Eta Meson Radiative Decay Width via the Primakoff Effect.
Nathan Wilson: [Advisor: Kenneth Brown] — Plasmonics for On-Chip Photodetectors and Light Sources.
Yikang Zhang: [Advisor: Thomas Barthel] — Driven-Dissipative Phase Transitions for Markovian Open Quantum Systems.
