Ken Bloom (physicist)
Ken Bloom | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Spouse | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | AB, physics, University of Chicago MS, PhD, Cornell University |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
Kenneth Arthur Bloom is an American particle physicist. He is a full professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Early life and education
[edit]Bloom was born to parents Estelle Bloom and Dr. Joel N. Bloom.[1] Raised in South Orange, New Jersey,[2] he attended Columbia High School, where he was captain of the school's physics team.[3] He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago and received his PhD in physics from Cornell University.[1]
Career
[edit]Upon completing his PhD, Bloom became a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan before accepting an assistant professor position at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL).[4] In 2004, Bloom collaborated with Aaron Dominguez to enlist David Swanson in encouraging CERN to invest in upgrading the university's network. Their encouragement was successful and Bloom was subsequently chosen to lead all seven Compact Muon Solenoid particle detector sites spaced around the 17-mile-long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) supercollider ring, Tier2 sites in the United States.[5] In this role, Bloom oversaw the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of the two largest experiments at the LHC.[6] Two years later, Bloom worked alongside more than 2,000 other scientists and researchers on the Higgs boson which was the recipient of a Nobel Prize in Physics.[7]
In 2015, Bloom was appointed the software and computing manager for the United States Compact Muon Solenoid operations program. He gained new responsibilities in his role including overseeing an annual budget of $18 million.[8] His real-life blog Quantum Diaries was recognized on the television show The Big Bang Theory and served as a plot point for the episode. In the episode, he discusses the fictional study of main characters Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter as an "admirable example of rare collaboration between a theorist and experimentalist" but warns them to disregard the rude comments.[9] The following year, Bloom was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for his "contribution to characterizing the top quark, the heaviest known subatomic particle, from data gathered at the Tevatron collider and Large Hadron Collider."[10] He was also promoted to the rank of full professor in Physics and Astronomy.[11]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloom was chosen to serve as a faculty associate to the chancellor for budget model implementation. In this new role, he was expected to advise on the development of the new incentive-based budget model and advise on effective planning, operations, and related governance.[12] He was also named to the school's COVID-19 Budget Advisory Committee[13] and executive committee.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Bloom married his wife Sarah Kelen on July 16, 2006, in a Jewish ceremony.[1] Kelen is the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Nebraska Wesleyan University.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Sarah Kelen, Kenneth Bloom". The New York Times. July 16, 2006. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ a b Schoenkin, Benjamin A. (March 3, 2015). "Professor's passion for particle physics extends outside the classroom". The Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ 2017 AAPT Winter Meeting program, American Association of Physics Teachers. Accessed April 22, 2021. "Ken Bloom is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and a Visiting Scientist in the Scientific Computing Division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). He grew up in South Orange, NJ, where he met his first physics teacher in fourth grade and then was the captain of the Columbia High School Physics Team."
- ^ "Ken Bloom Profile". unl.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "SMASHING ATOMS" (PDF). huskeralum.org. 2015. pp. 4–5. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Physicists finish record year at Large Hadron Collider". news.unl.edu. November 4, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Physics team assisted Nobel-winning discoveries". news.unl.edu. October 8, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Bloom appointed managerial role for Hadron Collider experiment". cas.unl.edu. February 13, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Schrage, Scott (February 6, 2015). "Bloom's blog featured in 'Big Bang Theory' episode". news.unl.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Lager, Amanda (October 26, 2016). "Bloom named fellow of American Physical Society". news.unl.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "74 faculty members earn promotion, tenure". news.unl.edu. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Achievements, Feb. 7, 2020". cas.unl.edu. February 7, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "COVID-19 Task Force and Committees". covid19.unl.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Committees". cas.unl.edu. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
External links
[edit]Ken Bloom publications indexed by Google Scholar
