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One of the best parts of working in a university setting is seeing the successes of others, whether they are students earning top grades as they advance successfully in their fields of study, staff members solving complex problems, or faculty leading their fields through research, creative activities and teaching.

This week, we received the very best kind of news: Dr. David Wineland, CU-Boulder lecturer in physics and fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, won the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with his longtime colleague Dr. Serge Haroche.

Even the most basic press reports show the elegance of this complicated research, which involves observing, measuring and controlling quantum particles. The research is elegant in that it addresses a problem that is entirely counterintuitive.

The researchers also addressed the core scientific problem from very different perspectives, giving a rock-solid empirical basis to the results. Moreover, the research has applications that could easily help improve technologies not yet imagined. All in all, the research represents the very best science has to offer and should serve as a model for generations to come.

Beyond the worldwide significance of the research, we are especially appreciative of Dr. Wineland’s remarkable contributions to graduate training in our college. Professor Paul Beale, chair of physics, commented that Dr. Wineland has been a “key graduate adviser” for the department, contributing substantially to the successes of others.

It is important to note that this kind of contribution has significant consequences throughout the college. Specifically, our graduate students greatly enrich campus life, with substantial and direct benefits to our undergraduate students. They serve as teaching assistants, mentors, and laboratory and research partners.

Dr. Wineland’s award is the fourth Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to a CU-Boulder faculty member since 2001. This represents an impressive—and rare—run for a university, much less a department. Moreover, this brings the total number of Nobel Prizes for CU academic staff before or at the time of the award to eight, exceeding top universities such as  Duke, Michigan, Northwestern, Brown, Wisconsin, Texas, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Washington and Virginia. Our peers in this respect include Yale, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and CalTech.

The close association between CU and NIST gives us additional reasons to appreciate this award. Clearly, this partnership yields amazing benefits to humankind, and we see the brightest of futures. We celebrate Dr. Wineland’s accomplishment and fruitful interactions with NIST, and see this award and everything that it represents as a path forward for our college and campus.

Finally, I should not get so caught up in the excitement of this award that I neglect to acknowledge former Dean Todd Gleeson for more than a decade of service as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. There have never been more difficult years in academia, and he led the college with dignity, integrity and intelligence.

The college is healthy and vibrant largely because of his efforts. We thank him for his service in this capacity, and look forward to his leadership in many other ways as he continues as professor in integrative physiology.