Janssen wins Abraham Pais Prize

Professor Michel Janssen of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in History of Science, Technology and Medicine has won the American Physical Society (APS) 2026 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.

Janssen shares the prize with his colleague Anthony Duncan of the University of Pittsburgh. The co-authors were cited for their research on the history of quantum physics between 1900 and 1927 that culminated in Constructing Quantum Mechanics, an exemplary work that uses primary sources masterfully and employs scaffold and arch metaphors to describe developments in the quantum revolution. Constructing Quantum Mechanics is the first volume in a two volume work covering the history of quantum mechanics, published by Oxford University Press. 

Janssen was hired for a position in the School occupied by the late Professor Roger Stuewer, who won the Pais Prize in 2013. The Abraham Pais Prize has been awarded since 2005. The winners receive $10,000 and a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient, plus an allowance for travel to an APS meeting to receive the award and deliver an invited lecture on the history of physics.