James S. Langer

James S. Langer is an American professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara.^[1]

James S. Langer
Born	1934 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
Alma mater	Carnegie Mellon University University of Birmingham
Known for	Theories of nonequilibrium phenomena and pattern formation in condensed matter physics.
Awards	Oliver Buckley Prize (1997)
Scientific career
Fields	Physicist
Institutions	Carnegie Mellon University University of California, Santa Barbara
Doctoral advisor	Rudolf Peierls
Doctoral students	Premi Chandra, Michael L. Falk, Anthony J. Foglia, Amalie Frischknecht, Alain Karma, Charles Lieou, Craig E. Maloney, Michael P. Marder, Robin E. Snyder, James A. Warren

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1934, Langer graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1951. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Birmingham, earning a B.A. in physics from the former in 1955 and a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from the latter in 1958.^[2] A Marshall Scholar at Birmingham, his thesis advisor was Rudolf Peierls. After receiving his doctorate, he began his career in the physics department at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (which later became Carnegie Mellon University), where he would stay until 1982. He then joined UCSB's Institute for Theoretical Physics as professor. Between 1989 and 1995, he served as its director.

According to his profile at UCSB, Langer's research focuses on theories of nonequilibrium phenomena, including the kinetics of phase transitions, pattern formation in crystal growth, the dynamics of earthquakes, and deformation and failure in noncrystalline solids.^[1]

Langer served as president of the American Physical Society in 2000 and as vice president of the United States National Academy of Sciences from 2001 to 2005. He was the founding editor of the Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics as of 2010.^[3][4] His awards include the APS's Oliver Buckley Prize in 1997.

References

1. "Professor James S. Langer, Biosketch". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
2. http://www.apscenttalks.org/chair.cfm?sessID=33. Retrieved 2010-10-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. "Preface". Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics. 1. 2010. doi:10.1146/annurev-co-1-072910-100001.
4. Langer, J.S. (2017). "My Career as a Theoretical Physicist—So Far". Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics. 8: 1–11. Bibcode:2017ARCMP...8....1L. doi:10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-031016-025141.