Eugene John "Gene" Mele is a professor of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where he researches quantum electric phenomena in condensed matter.

Biography

Mele graduated from

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

in 1972 and obtained a Ph.D. in physics from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1978. After working as a research assistant at the

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

Research Center in

Webster, New York Webster is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Monroe County, New York, United States. The town is named after orator and statesman Daniel Webster. The population was 45,327 at the 2020 census, up from ...

, he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and promoted to full professor in 1989. Since 2014 he has also been visiting faculty at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

in the United Kingdom.

Research

Together with Charles Kane, he predicted the

quantum spin Hall effect The quantum spin Hall state is a state of matter proposed to exist in special, two-dimensional semiconductors that have a quantized spin-Hall conductance and a vanishing charge-Hall conductance. The quantum spin Hall state of matter is the cousin o ...

in graphene which later was called time-reversal invariant

topological insulator A topological insulator is a material whose interior behaves as an electrical insulator while its surface behaves as an electrical conductor, meaning that electrons can only move along the surface of the material. A topological insulator is an ...

for the corresponding two dimensional structures. The existence of

has since been experimentally verified in HgTe quantum wells, and the prospect of applications for these old materials (predicted by others) has stimulated new research interest.

Honours and awards

Mele and Kane were awarded the 2019

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is one of the Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Board. Initially named Fundamental Physics Prize, it was founded in July 2012 by Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capit ...

. and the 2018

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards () are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ...

in Basic Sciences. They had previously received the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

in 2015, with

Shoucheng Zhang Shoucheng Zhang (; February 15, 1963 – December 1, 2018) was a Chinese-American physicist who was the JG Jackson and CJ Wood professor of physics at Stanford University. He was a condensed matter theorist known for his work on topological insu ...

, and the

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach, supporting physicists to engage in the design and implementation of European s ...

Condensed Matter Division Europhysics Prize in 2010 with Zhang, Hartmut Buhmann, and Laurens Molenkamp. He was elected a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

in 2001. He was elected to The National Academy of Sciences in 2019.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists American condensed matter physicists University of Pennsylvania faculty Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates {{US-scientist-stub

Biography

Research

Honours and awards

Further reading

References