MIT physics Professor Patrick A. Lee has won the prestigious Dirac Medal for 2005.
The Dirac Medal has been awarded by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) annually since 1985. One of the most prestigious awards in physics, it is given on Aug. 8, the birthdate of the great 20th century physicist Paul A. M. Dirac, a 1933 Nobel laureate.
Lee, the William and Emma Rogers Professor of Physics, will share this year's medal with Sir Samuel Edwards of the University of Cambridge.
Lee is a condensed matter theorist internationally known for his contributions to the theory of disordered electronic systems. He is a recognized pioneer in mesoscopic physics, the study of small devices at low temperatures. His current work is on the theory of high temperature superconductors.
According to the ICTP, Lee was honored for his "pioneering contributions to our understanding of disordered and strongly interacting many-body systems."
Other MIT physics faculty who have won the Dirac Medal include Alan Guth (2002), Roman Jackiw (1998), Frank Wilczek (1994), Daniel Freedman (1993) and Jeffrey Goldstone (1991).
The medalists receive a prize of $5,000.
