Alumni Professorship continued...

The Auburn Alumni Association funds the Alumni Professorship program because of its desire to support distinguished faculty. The program is designed to reward faculty recognized by their peers and colleagues as making outstanding and exceptional contributions to the University's academic programs.

"Professor Robicheaux has taught at all levels from introductory physics with trigonometry to advanced graduate courses in quantum mechanics and atomic theory. In every instance, he has been an innovator either bringing or expanding the use of computers and computer technology to his courses," said Joe Perez, head of COSAM's Physics Department. "He has clearly earned the respect of our department and the international atomic physics community."

Robicheaux earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago. He joined the Auburn University faculty in 1993 after serving three years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.

Robicheaux said his research focuses on the use of computers to study how atoms behave.

"Atoms do not act like anything we experience in our everyday lives because they are so tiny. This peculiar behavior is what drew me to atomic physics 20 years ago," he said. "Although the laws that govern atoms have been known for 80 years, we cannot predict what will happen in many important cases due to the complexity of these laws. My work focuses trying to figure out how to use computers to understand atoms."

Considered by his peers as one of the leading theoretical atomic physicists, Robicheaux has received numerous accolades for his work including the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and being elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

In addition to his work at Auburn, Robicheaux has served on the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Nominating Committee; the National Science Foundation Atomic Theory Panel; and worked to organize an atomic physics workshop at the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics at Harvard University. He currently receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.