Originally published in Michigan News on November 2, 2026
Five University of Michigan researchers representing physics, chemistry, nuclear engineering and aerospace engineering were elected as fellows of the American Physical Society.
The honor recognizes excellence in physics and exceptional service to the physics community. Each year, no more than one-half of 1% of APS membership is elected to the fellowship.
Scott Baalrud, professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, was recognized for “fundamental advancements in the kinetic theory of plasmas, including warm dense matter, strongly magnetized plasmas, and low temperature plasmas.”
Baalrud’s research focuses on the theoretical foundations of plasma physics, particularly kinetic theory. His work spans strongly coupled and strongly magnetized plasmas, low-temperature plasmas and plasma-boundary interactions, with applications ranging from fusion energy and high-energy-density physics to electric propulsion and microelectronics.
Emanuel Gull, professor of physics, was recognized for “advances in numerical methods for strongly correlated electron systems, including equilibrium and nonequilibrium quantum impurity solvers and applications to correlated materials.”
Gull is a theoretical physicist who focused on condensed matter, studying electronic systems that are both in and out of equilibrium and has developed numerous algorithms for the field. Recently, his research has also included work on quantum computers and machine learning algorithms for quantum field theories.
Cagliyan Kurdak, professor of physics, was recognized for “sustained leadership in broadening participation in physics graduate education and expanding interdisciplinary career opportunities.”
Kurdak is an experimentalist who studies condensed matter physics, focusing on interesting phenomena that emerge at low temperatures and small length scales. His team fabricates nanostructured systems to explore low-dimensional electron systems and surface and bulk conduction in topological insulators. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Physics since 1998 and served as director of the Applied Physics Program from 2010 to 2025.
Venkat Raman, professor of aerospace engineering and the James Arthur Nicholls Collegiate Professor of Engineering, was recognized for “fundamental insights into and the development of novel computational methods for rotating detonation engines and high-speed propulsion.”
Raman has pioneered the development of engines that enable flight at speeds higher than the speed of sound. He heads the Advanced Propulsion Concepts Lab and is also the director of the Center for Prediction, Reasoning and Intelligence for Multiphysics Exploration, or C-PRIME. The center aims to channel innovations in artificial intelligence, computational science and computer science towards applications in diverse fields of national interest.
Dominika Zgid, professor of chemistry and physics, was recognized for “foundational contributions to rigorous ab initio many-body methods for molecules and solids, including the self-energy embedding theory and self-consistent perturbation theories.”
Zgid is a theorist whose work bridges chemistry, physics and materials science. Her team works to develop theoretical tools to understand quantities that experimentalists can directly access. This research applies to the motion of weakly and strongly correlated electrons in molecules and systems that could be used in quantum computing, molecular magnets and more.