Mark John Bowick (born 1957) is a

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...

condensed matter theory Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the su ...

and

high energy physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and b ...

. He is the deputy director of the

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world, and brings theorists in physics and rela ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, and a Visiting Distinguished Professor of Physics in UCSB's Physics Department.

Early life and education

Bowick was born in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and earned his bachelor's degree,

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(Hons.), at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. In 1983, he received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, where he held an

Earle C. Anthony Earle C. Anthony (December 18, 1880—August 6, 1961) was an American businessman and philanthropist based in Los Angeles, California. He worked in broadcasting and automobiles and was also a songwriter, journalist and playwright. Early life ...

Graduate Fellowship.

Professional career

Bowick then spent three years at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

as the research associate of their Sloane Physics Lab's "Particle Theory Group," followed by a two-year postdoctoral position at the Center for Theoretical Physics, at

MIT 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 m ...

. He was awarded first prize in the 1986

Gravity Research Foundation The Gravity Research Foundation is an organization established in 1948 by businessman Roger Babson (founder of Babson College) to find ways to implement gravitational shielding. Over time, the foundation turned away from trying to block gravity ...

Essay Competition. In 1987, he joined the faculty of the Physics Department at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, where he was granted an Outstanding Junior Investigator award, from the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

, for the years 1987 to 1994. At Syracuse, Bowick served as assistant and associate professor from 1987 to 1998, was promoted to full professor of physics in 1998, and went on to become Director of the Soft Matter Program from 2011 to 2016. In August 2016, the

, at the

, invited Bowick to join as deputy director and Visiting Distinguished Professor of Physics.

Research

Bowick's research interests include symmetry breaking, the interplay of order and geometry,

topological defect A topological soliton occurs when two adjoining structures or spaces are in some way "out of phase" with each other in ways that make a seamless transition between them impossible. One of the simplest and most commonplace examples of a topological ...

s, building blocks for supramolecular self-assembly, membrane statistical mechanics, shaped structures, and common themes in

condensed matter Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the su ...

and

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

. Since 2002, his career has been split between high-energy physics and condensed matter physics, with ongoing research support by the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

Honors and awards

* First prize in the

Essay Competition (1986) * Outstanding Junior Investigator,

(1987–1994) * Fellow of 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 ...

, Division of Condensed Matter Physics (elected 2004) * Fellow of 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 ...

(elected 2015). Syracuse honored Bowick with two commendations: the Chancellor's Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement in 2006, and the William Wasserstrom Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Advising in 2009. He was also named the

Joel Dorman Steele Joel Dorman Steele (May 14, 1836 – May 25, 1886) was an American educator. He and his wife Esther Baker Steele were important textbook writers of their period, on subjects including American history, chemistry, human physiology, physics, ast ...

Professor of Physics in 2013.

Personal life

Bowick is married to theoretical physicist

M. Cristina Marchetti Maria Cristina Marchetti (born 1955) is an Italian-born, American theoretical physicist specializing in statistical physics and condensed matter physics. In 2019, she received the Leo P. Kadanoff Prize of the American Physical Society. She held t ...

. They have two adult children. In 2016, while director of Syracuse University's Soft Matter Program, Bowick commissioned composer

Andrew Waggoner Andrew Waggoner (born November 10, 1960 in New Orleans) is an American composer and violinist. Biography Andrew Waggoner grew up in New Orleans, Minneapolis and Atlanta, and studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the Eastman School ...

to write music for their Active And Smart Matter Conference: A New Frontier for Science & Engineering. The world premiere of this eclectic composition, entitled ''Hexacorda Mollia'', was performed by the

JACK Quartet The JACK Quartet is an American string quartet dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. It was founded in 2005 and is based in New York City. The four founding members are violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, viol ...

on June 22, 2016.

Selected publications

* Bowick, MJ and LCR Wijewardhana
Superstrings at High Temperature
Physical Review Letters 54 (23), 2485 (1985). * Bowick, MJ, and TW Appelquist, D Karabali, LCR Wijewardhana
Spontaneous chiral-symmetry breaking in three-dimensional QED
Physical Review D 33 (12), 3704 (1986). * Bowick, MJ, and L Chandar, EA Schiff, AM Srivastava
The Cosmological Kibble Mechanism in the Laboratory – String Formation in Liquid-Crystals
Science 263 (5149), 943–944 (1994). * Bowick, MJ and A Travesset
The statistical mechanics of membranes
Physics Reports 344 (4-6), 255–308 (2001). * Bowick, MJ, and AR Bausch, A Cacciuto, AD Dinsmore, MF Hsu, DR Nelson, ..
Grain boundary scars and spherical crystallography
Science 299 (5613), 1716–1718 (2003). * Bowick, MJ and L Giomi
Two-Dimensional Matter: Order, Curvature and Defects
Advances in Physics 58 (5), 449–563 (2009). * Bowick MJ, and L Giomi, X Ma, MC Marchetti
Defect annihilation and proliferation in active nematics
Physics Review Letters 110 (22), 228101 (2013). * Bowick, MJ, and FC Keber, E Loiseau, T Sanchez, SJ DeCamp, L Giomi, ..
Topology and dynamics of active nematic vesicles
Science 345 (6201), 1135–1139 (2014).

References

External links

Group webpage
at

Mark Bowick on Google Scholar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowick, Mark 1957 births 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists New Zealand physicists Living people People from Rotorua California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Particle physicists Theoretical physicists Syracuse University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society University of Canterbury alumni Topological dynamics American condensed matter physicists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science