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

Born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1934, Langer graduated fromTaylor Allderdice High School in 1951. He attendedCarnegie Institute of Technology and theUniversity 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] AMarshall Scholar at Birmingham, his thesis advisor wasRudolf Peierls. After receiving his doctorate, he began his career in the physics department at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (which later becameCarnegie Mellon University), where he would stay until 1982. He then joined UCSB'sInstitute 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 ofphase transitions,pattern formation incrystal growth, the dynamics ofearthquakes, and deformation and failure in noncrystalline solids.^[1]

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

• 1934 births
• Living people
• Taylor Allderdice High School alumni
• University of California, Santa Barbara faculty
• Fellows of the American Physical Society
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• Alumni of the University of Birmingham
• Scientists from California
• 21st-century American physicists
• 20th-century American physicists
• Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners
• Presidents of the American Physical Society

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• CS1 errors: bare URL
• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined
• Articles with hCards
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