University of Maryland’s John S. Toll Professor of Physics, Dr. Sylvester James Gates Jr., the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major U.S. research university, was named 2014 Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation, according to a Feb. 21 news release.
Gates, best known for his work in supersymmetry and supergravity, has been characterized as a physicist who is pursuing an understanding of the fundamental matter of the universe.