Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence
Z. Valy Vardeny Distinguished Professor of Physics. Photo courtesy of Z. Valy Vardeny
Zeev “Valy” Vardeny, a distinguished professor of physics, was honored at the university’s commencement ceremonies in May with the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence, the U’s most prestigious award. The $40,000 gift is presented annually to a faculty member who displays excellence in teaching, research and administrative efforts.
The Rosenblatt Prize Committee, a group of distinguished faculty members, recommends selected candidates for the award and the university president makes the final selection.
President Michael K. Young presented the award to Vardeny, stating, “We are delighted to honor Dr. Vardeny in this way. This prize is the highest honor the University can bestow on one of its own. As a distinguished professor of physics, Dr. Vardeny’s dedication and accomplishment in teaching are rare to find in an individual who has achieved his level of distinction in research. He is an extraordinarily gifted and dedicated scientist, teacher and administrator. As a leader, he is both influential and inspiring. As an author, he is legendary for his insight and production.”
One of the world’s foremost experimental physicists, Dr. Vardeny develops materials, specifically organic materials, for use in electronic devices such as transistors and diodes, and optical devices like lasers, photovoltaic cells, and LEDs or light-emitting diodes. Such materials ultimately may serve as the basis for new kinds of computers, televisions, batteries, light bulbs and other products. His current work is developing “plastic” or polymer lasers that could be molded into desired shapes for new display devices and fiber-optic telecommunications.
Dr. Vardeny has served as chair of the University of Utah’s Department of Physics, as director of the University of Utah’s John Dixon Laser Institute, as chairman of the International Conference on “Optical Probes of Conjugated Polymers,” and as a member of the International Advisory Committee of the 23rd Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors in Berlin.
A prolific author, he has added more than 400 papers to the most prestigious publications in the world including Physical Review Letters, perhaps the most prominent journal in physics, in which his writings have appeared 50 times.
He has received numerous awards, including the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology and the 2008 American Physical Society Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids.
Dr. Vardeny received the University of Utah Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award in 1997, and was named a Distinguished Professor of Physics in 2002.