Lena Kourkoutis

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Lena Kourkoutis
BornJune 6, 1979
Died (aged 44)
Alma materCornell University
University of Rostock
Known forElectron Microscopy
Scientific career
InstitutionsCornell University
WebsiteKourkoutis Electron Microscopy Group

Lena Fitting Kourkoutis (June 6, 1979 – June 24, 2023) was an American physicist working in the field of electron microscopy,[1] and a professor of applied and engineering physics at Cornell University.[2] Her research focuses on the use of aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope,[3][4] providing atomic resolution, at cryogenic temperatures (>77K) to study physical processes such as superconductivity[5] and biological structures such as proteins.

Education and career[edit]

Kourkoutis received her Diplom in Physics from the University of Rostock, in Germany in 2003, and conducted her doctoral research at Cornell University, which she completed in 2009. She then moved back to Germany as a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Martinsried between 2011 and 2012, before returning to Cornell University in 2013, first as a postdoctoral fellow, before joining the faculty.

In 2016, Kourkoutis was nominated for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Death[edit]

Kourkoutis died on June 24, 2023, aged 44, after a two-year battle with colonic cancer.[6]

Awards and honors[edit]

  • 2022 Fellow of the American Physical Society[7]
  • 2020 Kurt Heinrich Awards of the Microanalysis Society[8]
  • 2018 Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America.
  • 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.[9]
  • 2014 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering[10]
  • 2013 Albert Crewe Award

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lena Kourkoutis – Cornell Research
  2. ^ Lena Kourkoutis – Cornell faculty directory
  3. ^ Seeing More with Cryo-STEM – Cornell Research
  4. ^ OFFICE HOURS | Professor Lena Kourkoutis Discusses Her Research - Sunspots – Cornell Daily Sun
  5. ^ El Baggari, Ismail; Savitzky, Benjamin H.; Admasu, Alemayehu S.; Kim, Jaewook; Cheong, Sang-Wook; Hovden, Robert; Kourkoutis, Lena F. (2018). "Nature and evolution of incommensurate charge order in manganites visualized with cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (7): 1445–1450. arXiv:1708.08871. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115.1445E. doi:10.1073/pnas.1714901115. PMC 5816166. PMID 29382750.
  6. ^ Diane Tessaglia-Hymes: "Lena Kourkoutis, renowned electron microscopy expert, dies at 44." Cornell Chronicle, June 26, 2023, accessed June 26, 2023.
  7. ^ "Fellows nominated in 2022". APS Fellows archive. American Physical Society. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  8. ^ K. F. J Award 2020 K. F. J Award 2020 – Microanalysis Society
  9. ^ President Obama Awards Early Career Honor to Cornell Scientists – Cornell University
  10. ^ Lena F. Kourkoutis, 2014 Fellow – The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

External links[edit]