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New endowed fund will support physics fellowships in honor of the late Deborah Jin听

In 2001, Carl Wieman and Eric Cornell became the second and third 鈥� of five, to date 鈥� faculty members at the University of Colorado Boulder to receive the Nobel Prize, for their work in creating a Bose-Einstein condensate.

Until she died of cancer at the tragically young age of 47 in 2016, many Nobel handicappers had put their money on Deborah Jin to become CU Boulder鈥檚 next laureate, thanks to her groundbreaking work in creating a fermionic condensate 鈥� a feat even more challenging than creating the Bose-Einstein condensate.听

鈥淎 lot, lot harder,鈥� Wieman answered a reporter from the New York Times when asked to compare Jin鈥檚 achievement to his Nobel-recognized work. 鈥淲hat did come out was more impressive than I thought would be possible.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 that classic saying that dancer Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards, and in heels,鈥� says Patricia Rankin, professor of physics at CU Boulder. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what Debbie did with the fermionic condensate.鈥�

Jin鈥檚 鈥渧isionary and methodical approach听made it possible to use these ultracold gases as model systems to tease out the quantum principles that lead to behaviors in real materials, such as superconductivity,鈥漚ccording to the journal Nature.

But Jin, professor of physics and fellow of JILA 鈥� a joint institute between the university and the National Institute for Science and Technology 鈥� didn鈥檛 just hide away in the lab. She had a rich family life, raising a daughter with her husband, JILA physicist John Bohn. She cared for and challenged her students, both in and out of the classroom, and was known as a tireless mentor and champion of women in science.

To honor her legacy, the CU Boulder College of Arts & Sciences has created the Deborah Jin Endowed Graduate Fellowships Fund, which will fully support the work and mentorship of two graduate scholars in physics each semester, starting in 2020.

The initial goal is to raise $1 million for this endowment.听With gifts from the Heising Simons Foundation, the Chancellor鈥檚 Office and JILA, the physics department has raised $700,000.听Wieman and his wife, Sarah Gilbert, would like to bring this to $800,000.听They have pledged another $50,000 as a challenge to encourage others to contribute.听

To date, faculty and other supporters have donated more than $26,000 toward Wieman鈥檚 and Gilbert鈥檚 $50,000 matching gift, according to CU Boulder鈥檚 Office of Advancement.听

鈥淭his endowment honors a consummate, exemplary scientist whom we lost too soon,鈥� says James W.C. White, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淒ebbie Jin embodied the highest ideals in physical science, and we hope to support and inspire others who might emulate her.鈥�

In addition, the college will provide annual support as needed to ensure that the fellowships will fully cover awardees鈥� tuition costs for an entire semester.

Awardees will be chosen based on their graduate-school application materials, except for scores on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), which are 鈥渒nown to disadvantage applicants from under-represented groups,鈥� according to White.听

Preference will be given to applicants 鈥渨ho represent the spirit of Deborah Jin and have demonstrated a commitment to 鈥� serving their community and/or family and 鈥� breaking barriers for underserved or underrepresented populations in the larger Physics community.鈥澨�

鈥淲e want to honor Debbie Jin鈥檚 legacy as one of the pioneering women physicists of her time by bringing people into physics with the promise to follow in her footsteps,鈥� Rankin says. 鈥淲e have a really good physics department, and by paying attention to the need to broaden participation and perspectives, we will help direct the future of the field.鈥�

US News & World Report ranks CU Boulder鈥檚 Physics Department as 14^迟丑听best in the world, including second-best in atomic/molecular/optical physics and sixth in quantum physics. The international Shanghai Ranking Consultancy ranks the department as the world鈥檚 12^迟丑听best.

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