Robert F. Christy Prizes

Robert F. Christy

Physics Lecture Hall, June 1959. Front row, from left: William A. Fowler, William Houston, Lee A. Dubridge, Robert F. Bacher, Niels Bohr, Robert F. Christy, Richard P. Feynman, and Max Delbrück.

Jenijoy La Belle and Robert Christy (in chair) in Caltech’s production of the musical “Fiorello”, February 1978. La Belle plays a chorus girl; Christy, a radio announcer.

Established in 2018, these prizes honor the memory of Robert F. Christy, former Provost and professor of theoretical physics at Caltech.

Christy noted in a 1994 oral history interview with the Caltech Archives:

I was an unusual theorist in that my greatest strength was . . . in seeing how theory and experiment related.

Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Theoretical Physics

The Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Theoretical Physics is awarded to a student who has produced an outstanding thesis in theoretical physics.

2026

Mrunmay Jagadale: Theories and Quantum Topology: Enlarged Moduli Spaces, Categorification, and Modularity

Thesis Advisor: Sergei Gukov

2025

Nicholas Rui: Seismic Probes of Stellar Mergers and Magnetism

Thesis Advisor: James Fuller

2024

Shouzhen (Bailey) Gu: Quantum Error Correction Using Low-Density Parity-Check Codes and Erasure Qubits

Thesis Advisor: John Preskill

Keefe Mitman: Asymptotics with Numerical Relativity: Gravitational Memory, BMS Frames, and Nonlinearities

Thesis Advisor: Saul Teukolsky

2023

Nikita Sopenko: Topological Invariants of Gapped Quantum Lattice Systems

Thesis Advisor: Anton Kapustin

2022

Tanner Trickle: Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter with Electrons, Phonons, and Magnons

Thesis Advisor: Kathryn Zurek

2021

Wilbur Shirley: Structure of Entanglement in Fracton Phases of Matter

Thesis Advisor: Xie Chen

2020

Matthew Giesler: Probing the Nature of Black Holes with Gravitational Waves

Thesis Advisor: Saul Teukolsky

2019

Michael Grudic: The Role of Stellar Feedback in Star Cluster Formation

Thesis Advisor: Philip Hopkins

Cheng-Ju Lin: Surviving Quantum Chaos: Weak Thermalization, Prethermalization and Quantum Many-Body Scar States

Thesis Advisor: Olexei Motrunich

Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Freshman in Physics

The Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Freshman in Physics is awarded to a freshman who has demonstrated excellence in physics.

2026 - Idil Turkmen
2025 - Daniel Wareham
2024 - Katia Avanesov
2023 - Shrishti Kulkarni, Hannah Rose, Pritvik Sinhadc
2022 - Stephanie Chen
2019 - Ethan Mann

Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Senior in Theoretical Physics

The Robert F. Christy Prize for an Outstanding Senior in Theoretical Physics is awarded to a senior who has demonstrated excellence in theoretical physics through research and/or coursework.