Rutgers Appoints Physicist From University of Arkansas as Inaugural Claude Lovelace Endowed Chair
by Amber Sabri March 19, 2016
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–The Board of Governors at Rutgers University recently announced the appointment of the inaugural holder of the Professor Claud Lovelace Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics to Jak Chakhalian, a University of Arkansas Physicist.
Starting September 1, Chakhalian begins his five-year term at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, during which he will teach and partake in public services while simultaneously working in a high level of research.
The late Claud Lovelace, a professor at Rutgers' Department of Physics and Astronomy, and an expert in the field of "String Theory," made the endowed chair possible through his monetary and fundraising assistance dedicated to the "Our Rutgers Our Future" campaign.
Lovelace pledged $1.5 million towards the faculty position as the first gift to establish 18 endowed chairs at Rutgers towards their campaign.
Rutgers' New Brunswick Chancellor, Richard L. Edwards, expressed his feelings, saying, "We are delighted Professor Chakhalian will continue his internationally recognized career at Rutgers as holder of the Lovelace Endowed Chair and add to the prestige of our acclaimed Department of Physics and Astronomy."
Chakhalian earned his doctorate at the University of British Columbia and was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany.
Chakhalian's short term goal while at Rutgers is to work towards establishing an internationally competitive laboratory for artificial quantum materials and advanced spectroscopes.
"I want to lead a group which provides a diverse and exciting research and educational environment for students and early stage researchers for future advanced careers in condensed matter physics and material science," he said.
"As mid- and long-term goals, I would like to work with colleagues to create at Rutgers a state-of-the-art, collaboration-driven hub for rationally designed quantum materials with outstanding properties," Chakhalian added.
Chakhalian's research falls into the field of modern condensed matter called artificial quantum materials with strongly correlated electrons.
He is engaged in a group which works in the growth of artificial quantum materials as atomically thin films and multilayered structures composed of exotic magnets and insulators, superconductors and ferroelectrics with the aim to design novel quantum structures which cannot exist in bulk materials.
He hopes to create new quantum nanostructures for use as a foundation for the next generation of ultra-fast communication and computational devices.
Amber Sabri
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