Dr. J. David Litster, vice president and dean for research and professor of physics, has been awarded The Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics by The American Physical Society.
He will receive the $10,000 prize for his pioneering experimental and theoretical studies of phase transitions in unusual states of matter, using primarily light scattering and high resolution X-ray scattering. Much of the work was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Robert J. Birgeneau, dean of the School of Science and Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics.
The prize, established in 1964 by the General Electric Foundation, is given to recognize and encourage outstanding interdisciplinary research in chemistry and physics in the spirit of Irving Langmuir, a noted scientist. It is for research in the fields of chemical physics or physical chemistry carried out within the 10 years prior to the award.
Dr. Litster, who received a bachelor's degree in engineering from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and the PhD in physics from MIT in 1965, joined the MIT faculty in 1966. He has been director of both the Center for Materials Science and Engineering and the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory.
He is a fellow of The American Physical Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
A version of this article appeared in the March 3, 1993 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 37, Number 24).
