Jeffry Thomas

Jeffry Thomas (Physics and Astronomy) receiving the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student for Single Neutron Excitations of the N=51 Isotones germanium-83 and selenium-85. Mr. Thomas, who works with Jolie Cizewski, is the recipient of an Oak Ridge National Laboratory Significant Event Award for his groundbreaking series of experiments helping astrophysicists understand the production of heavy elements in supernovae. Unlike the typical graduate student in this field of multi-investigator research, Mr. Thomas wrote the proposals, constructed the equipment, did the analysis, and wrote the papers. His work is at the intersection of two frontier areas of physics: understanding the origin of the elements and understanding the properties of atomic nuclei far from stability.