Charles Kane
Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics
Charles Kane is an eminent theoretical physicist whose groundbreaking work on topological insulators—materials with a special kind of electrical conduction on their surface—has initiated a new field in condensed matter physics and garnered external recognition at the highest levels. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and he has received numerous awards, including the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Dirac Prize of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, the Oliver Buckley Prize of the American Physical Society, and the Physics Frontiers Prize of the Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation. In addition to his research, Kane has taught physics courses at all levels, ranging from topics in quantum condensed matter for advanced graduate students to introductory honors electromagnetism for freshmen, for which he received Penn’s Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.
About the Donor
Christopher H. Browne, C’69
The late Christopher H. Browne, C’69 served as the former chair of the Board of Advisors at Penn Arts & Sciences and as a Trustee of the University.
