Margaret Murnane
Encyclopedia
Margaret Mary Murnane is an Irish physicist. She is a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder
since 1999. Her interests are Atomic & Molecular Physics, Nanoscience, and Optical Physics. Her work with lasers has earned her multiple awards including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship award in 2000.
, Ireland, Murnane became interested in physics through her father who was an elementary school teacher. She received her B.A. and B.S. from University College, Cork. She moved to the United States
to study at the University of California at Berkeley where she earned her Ph.D in 1989. She is married to Prof. Henry Kapteyn, an physicist in his own right. They work together and operate their own lab in Duane Laboratories at the University of Colorado.
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
since 1999. Her interests are Atomic & Molecular Physics, Nanoscience, and Optical Physics. Her work with lasers has earned her multiple awards including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship award in 2000.
Early life
Born and raised in County LimerickCounty Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, Ireland, Murnane became interested in physics through her father who was an elementary school teacher. She received her B.A. and B.S. from University College, Cork. She moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to study at the University of California at Berkeley where she earned her Ph.D in 1989. She is married to Prof. Henry Kapteyn, an physicist in his own right. They work together and operate their own lab in Duane Laboratories at the University of Colorado.
Work
Murnane has written or co-written approximately 130 publications in peer reviewed journals, with an average of 42 citations per paper. She built a laser that flashed for ten quadrillionths of a second - the fastest that any human being has ever created. In their lab, Murnane, Kapteyn, and their students make lasers whose beams flash like a strobe light - except that each flash is a trillion times faster. These lasers, like camera flashes, shine a light that lets them record the motions of atoms in chemical reactions. Her newest laser flashes for less than ten femtoseconds.Honors
- 2011 Boyle Medal
- 2007 Fellow of the Association for Women in ScienceAssociation for Women in ScienceThe Association for Women in Science is a national advocacy organization championing the interests of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across all disciplines and employment sectors.-History:...
- 2006 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Award, University College Cork (Ireland)
- 2004 Member of the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
- 2003 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- 2003 Richtmyer Memorial Lecturer of the American Association of Physics TeachersAmerican Association of Physics TeachersThe American Association of Physics Teachers was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members that reside in over 30 countries. AAPT publications include two peer-reviewed journals, the American...
- 2001 Fellow of the American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical SocietyThe American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
- 2001 Loeb Lecturer, Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- 2000 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow
- 1998 Fellow of the Optical Society of AmericaOptical Society of AmericaThe Optical Society is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the study of light—optics and photonics—in theory and application, by means of publishing, organizing conferences and exhibitions, partnership with industry, and education. The organization has members in more than 100 countries...
- 1997 Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award of the American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical SocietyThe American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
- 1993 Presidential Faculty Fellowship of the National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
- 1992 Sloan Foundation Fellowship
- 1991 Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation
- 1990 Marshall N. Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award of the American Physical Society
- 1989 University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 1984 Regents Fellowship, University of California at Berkeley
- 1983 University Fellowship, University of California at Berkeley
- 1983 Pfizer Postgraduate Scholarship, Pfizer Chemical, Ireland
- 1977-1981 College Scholarship, University College Cork, Ireland