Carl Edwin Wieman
Wieman (left) with Eric Cornell on the campus of the University of Colorado
Born	March 26, 1951 (1951-03-26) (age 58) Corvallis, Oregon
Nationality	United States
Fields	Physics
Institutions	University of British Columbia University of Colorado
Alma mater	MIT Stanford University
Known for	Bose-Einstein condensate
Notable awards	Lorentz Medal (1998) Nobel Prize in Physics (2001) Oersted Medal (2007)

Carl Edwin Wieman (born March 26, 1951) is an American physicist at the University of British Columbia and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his production in 1995 with Eric Allin Cornell, the first true Bose-Einstein condensate.

[edit] Biography

Wieman was born in Corvallis, Oregon and graduated from Corvallis High School. Wieman earned his B.S. in 1973 from MIT and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1977; he was also awarded a Doctor of Science, honoris causa from the University of Chicago in 1997. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 1998. In 2001, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Eric Allin Cornell and Wolfgang Ketterle. In 2004, he was named United States Professor of the Year among all doctoral and research universities.

Wieman joined the University of British Columbia on 1 January 2007 and is heading a well-endowed science education initiative there; he retains a twenty percent appointment at the University of Colorado at Boulder to head the science education project he founded in Colorado.^[1]

In the past several years, Wieman has been particularly involved with efforts at improving science education and has conducted educational research on science instruction. Wieman currently serves as Chair of the Board on Science Education of the National Academy of Sciences. He has used and promotes Eric Mazur's "peer instruction", a pedagogical system, where teachers repeatedly ask multiple-choice concept questions during class, and students reply on the spot with little wireless "clicker" devices. If a large proportion of the class chooses a wrong answer, students discuss among themselves and reply again.^[2] In 2007, Wieman was awarded the Oersted Medal, which recognizes notable contributions to the teaching of physics, by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

[edit] Selected publications

• Donley, Elizabeth A.; Neil R. Claussen; Simon L. Cornish; Jacob L. Roberts; Eric A. Cornell; Carl E. Wieman (2001-07-19). "Dynamics of Collapsing and Exploding Bose−Einstein Condensates". Nature 412: 295–299. doi:10.1038/35085500. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v412/n6844/abs/412295a0.html. 
• Walker, Thad; David Sesko and Carl Wieman (1990). "Collective Behavior of Optically Trapped Neutral Atoms". Phys. Rev. Lett. 64 (4): 408–411. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.64.408. 
• Tanner, Carol E.; Carl Wieman (1988). "Precision Measurement of the Hyperfine Structure of the ¹³³Cs 6P_3/2 State". Phys. Rev. A 38 (3): 1616–1617. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.38.1616. 

[edit] See also

• Timeline of low-temperature technology

[edit] References

1. ^ University of Colorado, Boulder (2006-03-20). "CU-Boulder Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman Announces Move To British Columbia, Will Remain Linked To CU-Boulder". Press release. http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2006/109.html. Retrieved 2007-10-09. 
2. ^ David Epstein (2006-04-07). "Trading Research for Teaching". Inside Higher Ed. http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/04/07/wieman. Retrieved 2007-10-09. 

[edit] External links

• Carl Wieman's blog at ScientificBlogging.com
• Carl E. Wieman biography at the Nobel Foundation
• Globe and Mail Article
• Carl E. Wieman patents at Patent Genius