Prof. Igor Jovanovic named Fellow of the American Nuclear Society

Igor Jovanovic

Igor Jovanovic, a professor within the U-M Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) and the Applied Physics Program, has been named a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS).

The honored membership grade of Fellow is awarded to ANS members for outstanding accomplishment in any one of the areas of nuclear science and engineering. The honor of receiving the highest membership grade of the Society is reserved for senior members of good reputation who have compiled a professional record of experience marked by significant contribution to the advancement of one or more of the various disciplines served by the society.

Jovanovic was recognized by the ANS for contributions made to the advancement of nuclear science and technology through notable original research or invention in the nuclear field.

I am delighted and humbled by receiving this honor from ANS. I am indebted to many inspiring members of our professional community who provided generous support and collaboration over the years.

PROF. IGOR JOVANOVIC

Professor Jovanovic’s research is in the area of radiation detection and lasers and optics. He has developed advanced neutron detectors and novel active interrogation methods for applications in nuclear security and nonproliferation. As a member of multiple scientific collaborations, he is developing the antineutrino detection technology for monitoring nuclear reactors. In the area of lasers and optics, he has been developing new ultrafast and intense radiation sources, active interrogation methods enabled by intense laser-matter interactions, and spectroscopic methods for characterizing materials at a distance and in-situ.

Jovanovic is the director of both the Neutron Science Laboratory (NSL) and the Applied Nuclear Science Instrumentation Laboratory (ANSIL), and the leader of the Applied Nuclear Science Group. He is also the Associate Director for National Laboratories in the NNSA Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification and serves as the Chair of the Graduate Program for NERS. As a member of the High-Field Science Group in U-M’s Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, Jovanovic is working in an NSF-supported team to establish the new 3-petawatt ZEUS user facility, the highest power laser in the United States. In NERS, he has been serving as the Chair of the Graduate Program, which has been consistently ranked as the best Ph.D. nuclear engineering program in the Nation.

Professor Jovanovic received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. He was a staff physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and also served as a professor at Purdue and Penn State University.

He is a recipient of many awards, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award and the DHS Nuclear Forensics Junior Faculty Award. In addition to being a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, he is also a Fellow of Optica (formerly known as the Optical Society of America).

By: Sara Norman, NERS Marketing and Communications Specialist