Ken Bloom (physicist)
{{short description|American particle physicist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox academic
| name =Ken Bloom
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| image_size = 230px
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| birth_place =South Orange, New Jersey, US
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| education =AB, physics, University of Chicago
MS, PhD, Cornell University
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| spouse ={{married|Sarah Kelen|2006}}
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| workplaces =University of Nebraska–Lincoln
}}
Kenneth Arthur Bloom is an American particle physicist. He is a full professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Early life and education
Bloom was born to parents Estelle Bloom and Dr. Joel N. Bloom.{{cite news |title=Sarah Kelen, Kenneth Bloom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/fashion/weddings/16kelen.html |access-date=April 22, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 16, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422143105/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/fashion/weddings/16kelen.html|archive-date=April 22, 2021}} Raised in South Orange, New Jersey,{{cite news |last1=Schoenkin |first1=Benjamin A. |title=Professor's passion for particle physics extends outside the classroom |url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/professor-s-passion-for-particle-physics-extends-outside-the-classroom/article_4c730576-c14a-11e4-a5b7-53488bfcc478.html |access-date=April 22, 2021 |newspaper=The Daily Nebraskan |date=March 3, 2015}} he attended Columbia High School, where he was captain of the school's physics team.[https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/WM2017/upload/program_online.pdf 2017 AAPT Winter Meeting program], American Association of Physics Teachers. Accessed April 22, 2021. "Ken Bloom is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and a Visiting Scientist in the Scientific Computing Division at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). He grew up in South Orange, NJ, where he met his first physics teacher in fourth grade and then was the captain of the Columbia High School Physics Team." He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago and received his PhD in physics from Cornell University.
Career
Upon completing his PhD, Bloom became a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan before accepting an assistant professor position at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL).{{cite web |title=Ken Bloom Profile |url=https://www.unl.edu/physics/ken-bloom-bio |website=unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021}} In 2004, Bloom collaborated with Aaron Dominguez to enlist David Swanson in encouraging CERN to invest in upgrading the university's network. Their encouragement was successful and Bloom was subsequently chosen to lead all seven Compact Muon Solenoid particle detector sites spaced around the 17-mile-long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) supercollider ring, Tier2 sites in the United States.{{cite web |title=SMASHING ATOMS |url=https://www.huskeralum.org/s/1620/images/editor_documents/neb_mag/2015/smashing_atoms_summer2015.pdf?sessionid=e69857c7-3fdf-4423-bbc4-0f696a225660&cc=1 |website=huskeralum.org |access-date=April 22, 2021 |pages=4–5 |date=2015}} In this role, Bloom oversaw the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of the two largest experiments at the LHC.{{cite web |title=Physicists finish record year at Large Hadron Collider |url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/physicists-finish-record-year-large-hadron-collider/ |website=news.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=November 4, 2010}} Two years later, Bloom worked alongside more than 2,000 other scientists and researchers on the Higgs boson which was the recipient of a Nobel Prize in Physics.{{cite web |title=Physics team assisted Nobel-winning discoveries |url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/physics-team-assisted-nobel-winning-discoveries/ |website=news.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=October 8, 2013}}
In 2015, Bloom was appointed the software and computing manager for the United States Compact Muon Solenoid operations program. He gained new responsibilities in his role including overseeing an annual budget of $18 million.{{cite web |title=Bloom appointed managerial role for Hadron Collider experiment |url=https://cas.unl.edu/bloom-appointed-managerial-role-hadron-collider-experiment |website=cas.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=February 13, 2015}} His real-life blog Quantum Diaries was recognized on the television show The Big Bang Theory and served as a plot point for the episode. In the episode, he discusses the fictional study of main characters Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter as an "admirable example of rare collaboration between a theorist and experimentalist" but warns them to disregard the rude comments.{{cite web |last1=Schrage |first1=Scott |title=Bloom's blog featured in 'Big Bang Theory' episode |url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/blooms-blog-featured-in-big-bang-theory-episode/ |website=news.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=February 6, 2015}} The following year, Bloom was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for his "contribution to characterizing the top quark, the heaviest known subatomic particle, from data gathered at the Tevatron collider and Large Hadron Collider."{{cite web |last1=Lager |first1=Amanda |title=Bloom named fellow of American Physical Society |url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/bloom-named-fellow-of-american-physical-society/ |website=news.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=October 26, 2016}} He was also promoted to the rank of full professor in Physics and Astronomy.{{cite web |title=74 faculty members earn promotion, tenure |url=https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/74-faculty-members-earn-promotion-tenure/ |website=news.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=April 25, 2016}}
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloom was chosen to serve as a faculty associate to the chancellor for budget model implementation. In this new role, he was expected to advise on the development of the new incentive-based budget model and advise on effective planning, operations, and related governance.{{cite web |title=Achievements, Feb. 7, 2020 |url=https://cas.unl.edu/achievements-feb-7-2020 |website=cas.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021 |date=February 7, 2020}} He was also named to the school's COVID-19 Budget Advisory Committee{{cite web |title=COVID-19 Task Force and Committees |url=https://covid19.unl.edu/covid-19-task-force-and-committees |website=covid19.unl.edu |access-date=April 22, 2021}} and executive committee.{{cite web |title=Committees |url=https://cas.unl.edu/committees |website=cas.unl.edu |access-date=May 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424053948/https://cas.unl.edu/committees |archive-date=April 24, 2020}}
Personal life
Bloom married his wife Sarah Kelen on July 16, 2006, in a Jewish ceremony. Kelen is the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Google Scholar id | 6ZmGBOwAAAAJ}}
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:21st-century American physicists
Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society
Category:People from South Orange, New Jersey