UGDSB graduate wins Nobel Prize in Physics
October 2, 2018
GUELPH, Ontario – A former Guelph resident and Upper Grand District School Board graduate has been named a winner of the Nobel Prize.
Donna Strickland began her education with the Wellington County Board of Education (now the Upper Grand DSB) at Victory Public School. She later attended Willow Road Public School and then Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute. After graduating, she received her doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York. Strickland is currently a Professor at the University of Waterloo.
Born in Guelph in 1959, Strickland joins one of three women to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Half the prize was awarded to Arthur Ashkin and the other half jointly to Gérard Mourou and Strickland.
The prize has been awarded to the trio “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.” Strickland along with France’s Mourou “helped develop short and intense laser pulses that have broad industrial and medical applications.”
According to The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ press release, Mourou and Strickland “paved the way towards the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind. Their revolutionary article was published in 1985 and was the foundation of Strickland’s doctoral thesis. Using an ingenious approach, they succeeded in creating ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses without destroying the amplifying material.”
For more information, please see The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ press release.
Congratulations Donna on this amazing accomplishment!