Simmons, Elizabeth H.
Oral history interview with Elizabeth Simmons, 2021 July 22.
In this interview, Elizabeth Simmons discusses: role as Executive Vice Chancellor (EVC) at UC San Diego; impact of COVID-19; current developments in the field that she finds exciting; family background and childhood; experiences as a woman in physics; M.Phil at Cambridge in Volker Heines group working on condensed matter theory; study of condensed matter theory at Harvard; Howard Georgi; work on models exploring electroweak symmetry breaking and quark masses; opinions on why SSC died and the impact on the field; collaboration with Cynthia Brossman on the Pathways K12 outreach project supporting girls involvement in STEM; research on the top quark; interest in supersymmetry and physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) using a Higgless model; papers with husband Sekhar Chivukula and others exploring the idea of a five-dimensional spacetime; leading Lyman Briggs College; MOOSE model; reaction to the discovery of the Higgs boson; post-Higgs work distinguishing which models can and cant be consistent with the data; consulting work for the American Physical Society (APS) and the wider academic and scientific community on matters of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI); advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community; advisory work for the Center for High Energy Physics in China; collaborations at the Aspen Center for Physics to support EDI in the field; role creating career development workshops for women at the International Center for Theoretical Physics; work increasing EDI in curricula and faculty hiring; building cross-field collaboration at UCSD; collaboration with other EVCs in the UC system; current physics work on model building and how to get the most out of available data; and current work on graviton-graviton scattering. Toward the end of the interview, Simmons reflects on intersectionality and the value of diversity in science and discovery.
American theoretical physicist. Ph.D. physics (partilce theory), Harvard University (1990). Professional experience includes: postdoctoral fellow in theoretical particle physics, Harvard University (1990-1993); from assistant professor to associate professor of physics, Boston University (1993-2003); dean of Lyman Briggs College, university distinguished professor of physics, acting dean of college of arts and letters, Michigan State University (2003-2017); executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and distinguished professor of physics, University of California San Diego (2017-).
Brossman, Cynthia
Chivukula, Sekhar
Georgi, Howard
Heine, Volker
Simmons, Elizabeth H.
American Physical Society
Aspen Center for Physics
Harvard University.
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
Lyman Briggs College
Qing hua da xue (Beijing, China). Center for High Energy Physics
University of California, San Diego
University of Cambridge
Condensed matter -- Research.
COVID-19 (Disease)
Diversity in higher education
Diversity in the workplace
Higgs bosons.
Intersectionality (Sociology)
Minorities in science.
Superconducting Super Collider
Supersymmetry
Women in physics
Women in science
Interviews. aat
Oral histories. aat
Transcripts. aat
Zierler, David, 1979-, interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA