Three members of the FRIB scientific community have been recognized as 2024 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):

• Michael Thoennessen, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University and FRIB
• Morten Hjorth-Jensen, former professor of physics at FRIB and in MSU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, current professor of physics at the University of Oslo (Norway)
• John Beacom, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy; director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics at The Ohio State University

They are among the 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators who have been elected 2024 Fellows for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievement throughout their careers. Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.

Michael Thoennessen 

University Distinguished Professor Emeritus Michael Thoennessen works with FRIB in an on-call position and is the former associate director for user relations at FRIB. Thoennessen was named an AAAS Fellow “for formative contributions to understanding of nuclei, for providing research opportunities in nuclear physics to students across the country, and for distinguished stewardship of the scientific record.” 

Thoennessen earned his doctorate in experimental nuclear physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was a research associate at the Joint Institute for Heavy Ion Research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before joining MSU as an assistant professor. His past roles include editor-in-chief of the American Physical Society (APS); supervisory editor of Nuclear Physics A; and associate director for education and nuclear science at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the predecessor to FRIB. An APS Fellow, he received the Physical Review Outstanding Referee Award in 2013.

His research focuses on the study of extremely neutron-rich nuclides. The exploration of these very exotic nuclides help to understand the nature of the nuclear force that binds protons and neutrons into stable nuclei and rare isotopes. His group performed their experiments as part of the MoNA collaboration at FRIB, one of the few facilities in the world where these nuclei can be explored.

“It is a great honor for your scientific work to be recognized by such an important and influential society as the AAAS,” he said. “FRIB is absolutely essential for my research, which focuses on the limit of nuclear stability. The first discovery of new isotopes at FRIB last year demonstrated the enormous potential for the discovery and exploration of hundreds of new isotopes in the future.”

Read the MSU article about Thoennessen.

Morten Hjorth-Jensen 

Morten Hjorth-Jensen is a former professor of physics at FRIB and in MSU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy. Following a 12-year career at FRIB and MSU, Hjorth-Jensen currently is a professor of physics at the University of Oslo in Norway. He was named an AAAS Fellow “for distinguished contributions to the field of quantum many-body theory and computation, particularly for nuclear forces, pairing and the coupled-cluster approach, and for exceptional service toward educating young scientists.” 

Hjorth-Jensen earned a master’s degree in science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, followed by a PhD in theoretical nuclear physics at the University of Oslo. He was a research associate at the European Center for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*) and the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics. An APS Fellow, he received the Physical Review Outstanding Referee Award in 2008.

Hjorth-Jensen is a computational physicist who focuses on quantum many-body theory, quantum computing, and machine learning. His research emphasizes computational methods as a theoretical technique, in particular the development of state-of-the-art algorithms for the study of strongly-interacting systems.

“FRIB is a unique place for doing nuclear science, with a truly great collegial atmosphere, with theory and experiment working closely together in order to push forward our fundamental understanding of nuclei and nuclear matter,” he said. “The scientific quality and attitude to fundamental research is unique and throughout my years at MSU and FRIB I have had the privilege to encounter so many fascinating people, from students to close colleagues.”

Read the University of Oslo article about Hjorth-Jensen.

John Beacom 

John Beacom, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics at The Ohio State University (OSU), is a member of the FRIB Users Organization. He was named an AAAS Fellow “for distinguished contributions to the fields of nuclear and particle astrophysics, particularly in regarding neutrinos.”

Read the OSU article about Beacom.

Michigan State University (MSU) operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), with financial support from and furthering the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics.