Dr. Mohamed Laradji, professor in the Department of Physics, has recently been elected fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Founded in 1899, the APS is the largest organization of physicists in the world.  The organization awards the fellowship each year to no more than half a percent of its membership. The prestigious fellowship is given for significant contributions to the physics enterprise and signifies recognition by one’s professional peers of the importance and impact of a body of scholarly work. More information on this prestigious award is found on the American Physical Society website http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships.

Dr. Laradji is the first University of Memphis faculty member to receive this honor. He was recognized, “for his pioneering and seminal contributions to applications of computational techniques in elucidating physics of the biomembranes, complex fluids, and polymers.” Dr. Laradji has more than fifty publications and his work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Research Corporation, and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund. He joined the University of Memphis in 2002 after completing his PhD at McGill University, serving as postdoctoral research associate at the University of Georgia and the University of Toronto, and serving as assistant professor at the University of Prince Edward Island. In 2011, he was recognized by the College of Arts & Sciences with the Distinguished Research Award.

Dr. Laradji hopes that this honor will bring increased recognition to physics research at the University of Memphis and the opportunities at University of Memphis for physics graduate students to work with top researchers in the field.  The University of Memphis Provost’s Office congratulates Dr. Laradji and appreciates the contribution that he and his colleagues are making to the field.