Theoretical Physicist
Jim (Sylvester James) Gates, the Toll Physics Professor and director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland in College Park, is a committed researcher and educator.
He is known for pioneering work on what is called supersymmetry - an extension of current particle physics of great mathematical elegance, which postulates that, for every known elementary particle, there is a closely related, yet-to-be-discovered "superpartner" particle. Supersymmetry, an integral part of supergravity and string theory, is ultimately aimed toward creating a unified description of all physics. In 1983, Gates coauthored Superspace, or One Thousand and One Lessons in Supersymmetry, one of two comprehensive text books in the field to this day.
Gates is strongly committed to education. In the summers of 1971 to 1985, he returned to his alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, to work with freshmen in the same minority student program by which he had entered that university. He was instrumental in the development of Ph.D. physics programs at Hampton University in Virginia, Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, and Howard University in Washington, D.C. He has reached a wide audience with 2007 DVD sales of more than a million dollars for his series on superstring theory with The Teaching Company, and has been featured on a numerous of PBS's NOVA programs on physics.
