SBU Professor Derek Teaney elected 2023 Fellow of American Physical Society 

SBU Professor Derek Teaney elected 2023 Fellow of American Physical Society 

Derek Teaney. Photo by Sebastian Grieninger/SBU

The American Physical Society (APS) has announced that Derek Teaney, Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University, is among the organization’s 2023 Fellows. This distinction recognizes Professor Teaney as a leading physicist whose research and service as an educator have helped advance the frontiers of science and technology.

Professor Teaney’s research involves Quantum Chromodynamics, which describes the nearly massless particles called quarks and gluons that exist within the nucleus of every atom. When nuclei are crashed into each other at high speeds, these particles form an extremely hot and dense state of matter known as quark-gluon plasma, which existed a microsecond after the big bang. ProfessorTeaney’s work has helped elucidate these collisions, painting a more complete picture of the quark-gluon plasma in the very early universe.

“I am exceptionally delighted that Professor Teaney has been recognized with this distinct honor by the American Physical Society, which is made to no more than one-half of one percent of the Society’s membership each year,” said Chang Kee Jung, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Besides his outstanding contributions to nuclear physics, Professor Teaney is a dedicated and caring educator. He is also a reliable member of the department who is always willing to serve the university. We are fortunate to have him.”

With a BS from Yale University and a PhD from Stony Brook, Professor Teaney joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2007 as a RIKEN Fellow. Since then, he has received multiple accolades including an Outstanding Junior Investigator award and a Sloan Fellowship.

The APS has named an annual cohort of fellows since 1921, and Professor Teaney joins a long list of Stony Brook professors who have earned the title. He also joins his father, Dale Teaney, who became an APS Fellow in 1964. To see the full list of past and present honorees, visit the APS Fellows archive page.