Evelyn Thomson, a professor of physics and astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences, and Paulo Arratia, a professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering and mechanical engineering & applied mechanics in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, have been named American Physical Society (APS) fellows. APS fellows are selected by their peers for outstanding advances in physics through original research and publication or significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the society’s membership, excluding student members, is elected to the status of APS fellow, for outstanding advances in physics through original research and publication or significant innovative contributions in the application of physics to science and technology.

Paulo Arratia is a professor in Penn Engineering’s departments of mechanical engineering & applied mechanics and chemical & biomolecular engineering. His recognition as a new APS fellow was bestowed by the society’s division on fluid dynamics “for creative and insightful experimental discoveries in the fields of complex and biological fluid mechanics.” Dr. Arratia’s work employs a variety of techniques, including specialized approaches to microscopic imaging and even genetic engineering to gather new information about fluid flow. Dr. Arratia has previously been recognized with a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and other honors.

Evelyn Thomson is a professor in the School of Arts & Sciences’ department of physics and astronomy and was recognized “for initiating and leading original searches at the Large Hadron Collider for the simplest extension of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model that has spontaneous violation of the R-parity symmetry.” Dr. Thomson’s research interests include precision measurements of the W boson mass at ALEPH, a particle detector on the Large Electron-Positron collider at CERN; precision measurements of top quark properties and searches for the Higgs boson at the Collider Detector at Fermilab; and searches for physics beyond the standard model at ATLAS and at CERN. Dr. Thomson’s other honors include an Outstanding Junior Investigator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, and Penn’s Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching.

The APS is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.