Nobel Prize

Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD), pioneer in the field of pulsed lasers and a 2018 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, will deliver the 169th College commencement address on Sunday, May 19.

Today's Rochester researchers are taking science developed at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics to develop the next generation high-power lasers and to better understand the fundamentals of high-energy-density physics. 

Three scholars with ties to the University of Rochester received the Nobel Prize in their fields at the 2018 ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to both Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD) and her graduate advisor and former senior scientist Gérard Mourou, for work that paved the way for more compact and precise high-intensity laser systems. In addition, Paul Romer, a former assistant professor in the Department of Economics, has been awarded a shared Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in endogenous growth theory.

The former assistant professor of economics at the University of Rochester is currently a professor at New York University, and was recognized by the Nobel Committee for his work on the economics of technological change.

Every time you pick up your smartphone, you are holding a product made possible by a Nobel Prize–winning technology developed at the University of Rochester.

University of Rochester doctoral graduate Donna Strickland '89 (PhD) and former optics faculty member Gérard Mourou shared the Nobel Prize in Physics today for work they undertook at the University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Their breakthrough paved the way for the creating very short and very intense laser pulses now used in a variety of applications, from LASIK eye surgery to the manufacturing of materials used in cell phones.

Recognized by the Nobel committee for his contributions to behavioral economics—a field that he helped create—Thaler's research bridges the gap between economics and psychology.

Richard Thaler, who earned his graduate degrees at the University of Rochester, has received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics.

The Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded today for work in the field of quantum optics, an area of physics that was pioneered in large part at the University of Rochester.