Ned S. Wingreen is a theoretical

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and the Howard A. Prior Professor of the Life Sciences at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He is a member of the Department of Molecular Biology and of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, where he is currently director of graduate studies. He is the associate director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, and is also associated faculty in the department of physics. Working with

Yigal Meir Yigal Meir (20 November 1957) is the Graham Beck professor of Quantum Science and Technology at Ben Gurion University, specializing in condensed matter; in particular mesoscopic physics, disordered systems and strongly correlated materials. Amon ...

, Wingreen formulated the Meir-Wingreen Formula which describes the

electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The moving pa ...

through an arbitrary

mesoscopic Mesoscopic physics is a subdiscipline of condensed matter physics that deals with materials of an intermediate size. These materials range in size between the nanoscale for a quantity of atoms (such as a molecule) and of materials measuring micr ...

system.

Education and career

Wingreen received a B.S. in physics from

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 ...

in 1984. Wingreen then received his Ph.D. in theoretical

condensed matter physics 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 sub ...

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1989 as a

Hertz Fellow The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is an American non-profit organization that awards fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. The fellowship provides $250,000 of support over five years. The ...

. His dissertation was titled "Resonant Tunneling with Electron-

Phonon In physics, a phonon is a collective excitation in a periodic, Elasticity (physics), elastic arrangement of atoms or molecules in condensed matter physics, condensed matter, specifically in solids and some liquids. A type of quasiparticle, a phon ...

Interaction" and he was advised by John W. Wilkins. He did his postdoc in

mesoscopic physics Mesoscopic physics is a subdiscipline of condensed matter physics that deals with materials of an intermediate size. These materials range in size between the nanoscale for a quantity of atoms (such as a molecule) and of materials measuring micr ...

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 mo ...

. There, along with

, he formulated the Meir-Wingreen Formula that describes the

through an arbitrary

system. In 1991 he moved to the

NEC Research Institute NEC Corporation of America (NECAM) is the principal subsidiary of the multinational IT company NEC in the United States. NEC Corporation of America was formed on July 1, 2006, from the combined operations of NEC America, NEC Solutions (America) ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

. At NEC, he continued to work in

, but also started research in

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

which grew into a general interest in problems at the interface of physics and biology. Wingreen joined Princeton University in 2004. Wingreen's current research focuses on modelling intracellular networks in bacteria and other microorganisms, as well as studies of microbial communities. He is a 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 ...

and 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 ...

Honors

Presidential Scholar The United States Presidential Scholars Program is a program of the United States Department of Education. It is described as "one of the Nation's highest honors for students" in the United States of America and the globe. The program was estab ...

(1980) * Carnation Merit Scholarship (1982–1983) * Caltech Merit Scholarship (1983–1984) * Jack E. Froehlich Memorial Award (1983) * McKinney Prize in Literature (1984) *

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of American Physic ...

, (2001) ''"for contributions to the fundamental understanding of protein folding and design, including theoretical insights into the selection of protein structures"'' *President's Award for Distinguished Teaching,

(2019)

References

External links

Google Scholar Citations

Ned S. Wingreen
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Theoretical physicists California Institute of Technology alumni Cornell University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American physicists Princeton University faculty American biophysicists Fellows of the American Physical Society {{US-physicist-stub