 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Neil S. Sullivan" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Neil S. Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Neil Samuel Charles Sullivan (1942-01-18)January 18, 1942 (age 84) |
| Alma mater | Otago University,Harvard University |
| Awards | Prix Saintour La Caze Physics Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Florida Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires |
| Thesis | Nuclear Magnetism of Solid Hydrogen at Low Temperatures[1] (1972) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Pound |
| Doctoral students | Michel Devoret |
Neil Samuel Charles Sullivan[1] (born January 18, 1942) is a distinguishedprofessor ofphysics at theUniversity of Florida.[2] He is one of the founders of the Micro Kelvin Laboratory of the University of Florida. He is known for the discovery of quadrupolar glass phase ofsolid hydrogen.
Born in New Zealand, Sullivan attendedOtago University, where he received aBachelor of Science degree in physics in 1964[1] followed by aMaster of Science in 1965.[citation needed] In 1972, he obtained hisPhD fromHarvard University with the thesisNuclear Magnetism of Solid Hydrogen at Low Temperatures, supervised byRobert Pound.[1]
He became a naturalized United States citizen in 2004.[citation needed]
In the 1970s, Sullivan worked in France atCEA Saclay withAnatole Abragam. During this time, he was the doctoral advisor ofMichel Devoret andDaniel Esteve [fr].[3]
Sullivan left France became a professor of physics at the University of Florida in 1983. He became chair of the Physics Department in 1989, a position he held until 1999. It was during this time that he was one of three lead collaborators to successfully propose the creation of theNational High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida.[4] From 2000-2006, he served as Dean of theCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is also one of theeditors-in-chief of theJournal of Low Temperature Physics. In 2024 he was given the title "Distinguished Professor".[citation needed]
In 1987 he was elected aFellow of the American Physical Society, his citation reading"for fundamental studies of quantum solids using NMR techniques: contributions to orientational transitions in adsorbed N2 and solid hydrogen, discovery of a quadrupolar glass state in hydrogen, and elucidation of vacancies in solid 3He"[5]