The Dresselhaus Lecture series is named in honor of Mildred "Millie" Dresselhaus, a beloved MIT professor whose research helped unlock the mysteries of carbon, the most fundamental of organic elements—earning her the nickname “queen of carbon science.” This annual event recognizes a significant figure in science and engineering from anywhere in the world whose leadership and impact echo Millie’s life, accomplishments, and values.
Ahead of this year's lecture, join MIT.nano and Maia Weinstock, author of Carbon Queen, The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus, for a book talk and signing on Thursday, November 3 at MIT. Read more and register.
ABOUT THE LECTURE
The understanding of strongly-interacting quantum matter has challenged physicists for decades. The discovery four years ago of correlated phases and superconductivity in magic angle twisted bilayer graphene has led to the emergence of a new materials platform to investigate strongly interacting physics, namely moiré quantum matter. These systems exhibit a plethora of quantum phases, such as correlated insulators, superconductivity, magnetism, ferroelectricity, and more.
In this talk, Jarillo-Herrero will review some of the recent advances in the field, focusing on the newest generation of moiré quantum systems, where correlated physics, superconductivity, and other fascinating phases can be studied with unprecedented tunability. He will conclude with an outlook of some exciting directions in this emerging field.
ABOUT PABLO JARILLO-HERRERO
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT. He received his “Licenciatura” in physics from the University of Valencia, Spain, in 1999. Then he spent two years at the University of California in San Diego, where he received a M.Sc. degree before going to the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2005. After a one-year postdoc in Delft, he moved to Columbia University, where he worked as a NanoResearch Initiative Fellow. He joined MIT as an assistant professor of physics in January 2008 and received tenure in 2015. He was promoted to Full Professor of Physics in 2018.
Jarillo-Herrero's awards include the Spanish Royal Society Young Investigator Award (2006), an NSF Career Award (2008), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2009), a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship (2009), the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Semiconductor Physics (2010), a DOE Early Career Award (2011), a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, 2012), an ONR Young Investigator Award (2013), and a Moore Foundation Experimental Physics in Quantum Systems Investigator Award (2014). Prof. Jarillo-Herrero has been selected as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics-Web of Science (2017-present), and was elected APS Fellow (2018), Fellow of the Quantum Materials Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR, 2019), and Member at Large of the APS Division of Condensed Matter Physics (2019).
Jarillo-Herrero is the recipient of the APS 2020 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize, the 2020 Wolf Prize in Physics, the 2020 Medal of the Spanish Royal Physics Society, the 2021 Lise Meitner Distinguished Lecture and Medal, the 2021 Max Planck Humboldt Research Award, and the 2021 US National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Discovery. He became elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2022.
ABOUT MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS
Mildred "Millie" Dresselhaus was a beloved MIT professor whose research helped unlock the mysteries of carbon, the most fundamental of organic elements—earning her the nickname “queen of carbon science.” She is well-known for her work with graphene, fullerenes (also known as "buckyballs"), bismuth nanowires, and low dimensional thermoelectricity. She developed the concept of the "nanotube," a single-layer sheet of carbon atoms that is incredibly thin and yet incredibly strong.
With appointments in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Physics, Dresselhaus was a member of the MIT faculty for 50 years. In 1985 she was honored with the title of Institute Professor, an esteemed position held by no more than 12 MIT professors at one time. A winner of numerous awards, Dresselhaus was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience. She was inducted into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.
Dresselhaus led MIT and her field not only through her research and teaching, but with her longstanding commitment to promoting gender equity in science and engineering and a dedication to mentorship and teaching. She received a Carnegie Foundation grant in 1973 to support her efforts to encourage women to enter traditionally male dominated fields of science and engineering.
In honor of Millie, MIT.nano will host the Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture annually in November, the month of Millie's birthday. The event will recognize a significant figure in science and engineering from anywhere in the world whose leadership and impact echo Millie’s life, accomplishments, and values.
Read more about the previous Dresselhaus lecturers and watch their talk videos.