Bruno Coppi (born 19 November 1935 in

Gonzaga, Lombardy Gonzaga ( Upper Mantuan: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about south of Mantua. Located in a region known as the "Lower Mantuan" (''Bassa Mantovana' ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) is an Italian-American physicist specializing in

plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

. In 1959, Coppi attained an Italian doctoral degree at

Polytechnic University of Milan The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

and was subsequently a docent and research scientist at the Polytechnic Institute and the

University of Milan The University of Milan ( it, Università degli Studi di Milano; la, Universitas Studiorum Mediolanensis), known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe ...

. In 1961, he was a scientist at the

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. Its primary mission is research into and development of fusion as an energy source. It is known ...

. From 1964 to 1967, he was an assistant professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, from 1967 to 1969 at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

, and from 1968 professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. In the 1980s, Coppi was a member of the science team in the

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, ''Voyager 1'', on a ...

space probe. Coppi works on theoretical plasma physics, space plasmas and magnetic fusion. At MIT, he initiated the Alcator Program, which led to the Russian-American Ignitor program, that aims at building near Moscow a fusion reactor with Coppi as the principal investigator for the project. In addition, Coppi is taking a leading role in the Frascati Torus Program in Italy.

Awards

In 1987, Coppi received the

James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...

and also the Award of Excellence in Plasma Physics from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. He is a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(since 1976), the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, the National Virgilian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and a fellow of the

. He received the American Dante Alighieri Prize, the Science Prize of the Italian government, the science and technology prize from Italgas, and the gold medal of the Milan Polytechnic Institute. In 2000, he was knighted Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

. In 2016, Coppi won the Antonio Feltrinelli International Prize for Chemistry and Physics from the

Accademia nazionale dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Bruno Coppi on 28 April 2020, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & ArchivesBiography from the APS
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coppi, Bruno 1935 births Living people People from the Province of Mantua 21st-century American physicists Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty 20th-century Italian physicists Italian emigrants to the United States Theoretical physicists Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Fellows of the American Physical Society