Physics Professor Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Chicago during its June 14 graduation ceremony.
In granting him an honorary Doctor of Science degree, the university citation said Wieman is "considered to be one of the premier physicists of his generation."
In addition to teaching at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø, Wieman also is a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
"Wieman has achieved perhaps the two most important successes in atomic physics during the past two decades," the citation said, referring to his work on measuring parity violation in atomic systems and the first creation of the long-sought Bose-Einstein condensation.
Wieman was the co-leader of a scientific team at JILA that announced the creation of the new state of matter two years ago.
"Their experimental tour de force in 1995 has opened up a new field of research that is now being actively pursued," the citation said. "The consequences of this achievement for coherent atomic physics is likely to be as profound as was the discovery of the laser for coherent light."
Wieman has been on the CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø faculty since 1984 and teaches undergraduate and graduate students. He has won numerous scientific awards and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.