R. Bruce Vogelaar named William E. Hassinger Jr. Senior Faculty Fellow
R. Bruce Vogelaar, professor of physics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, recently received the William E. Hassinger Jr. Senior Faculty Fellowship in Physics from the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The William E. Hassinger Jr. Senior Faculty Fellowship was established in 2007 by its namesake to enhance the national and international prominence of Virginia Tech’s Department of Physics. The fellowship supports research programs considered most likely to generate important scientific breakthroughs of a fundamental or applied nature.
The fellowship appointment is for three years and is renewable.
Vogelaar joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 1998 and has made significant contributions to neutrino physics and underground science.
He has led several major initiatives including a bid for Virginia Tech to become host of the Deep Underground and Science Laboratory, which resulted in the creation of the Kimballton Underground Research Facility.
He also led an internationally recognized research program in neutrino physics and weak interactions with ultracold neutrons. A highlight is his work during the past two decades on the Borexino solar neutrino experiment at Italy’s Gran Sasso laboratory. He is known for his contributions to achieving the unprecedented levels of radiopurity in this detector and implementing the calibration systems critical to achieving the physics results.
In 2013, he was recognized in part for this work when he became a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Vogelaar has a strong external research grant record, with continuous, multiple-grant funding support from the National Science Foundation since 1998. His total external peer-reviewed funding record includes $9.8 million as principal investigator and $16.8 million as principal investigator or co-principal investigator.
He received his bachelor's degree from Hope College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1989.
