{{short description|Particle Physicist who invented time projection chambers}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox scientist | name = David R. Nygren | image = Nygren D by Jerry Przybylski.jpg | image_size = 150px | birth_date ={{b-da|December 30, 1938}} | birth_place = | citizenship = | field = Particle Physics | work_institution = University of Texas, Arlington, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley | alma_mater = B.A. Whitman College (1960), Ph.D. University of Washington (1967) | known_for = Invention of Time projection chamber | prizes = E. O. Lawrence Award (1985) <br> Panofsky Prize (1998) <br> IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award (2018) }}

'''David Robert Nygren''' (born December 30, 1938) is a particle physicist known for his invention of the time projection chamber.<ref name="EOL">{{cite web|url = https://science.osti.gov/lawrence/Award-Laureates/1980s/nygren|title = The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award: 1980's Laureates|accessdate = 15 September 2025|publisher = Department of Energy|quote = David R. Nygren, 1985: Physics: For the development of experimental techniques in particle physics and especially for the invention of the Time Projection Chamber.}}</ref> He is currently a Presidential Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1973.<ref name="dist">{{cite web|url = http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/distinguished-standing.html|title = Nygren, Poskanzer and Stephens Named Distinguished Scientists by Berkeley Lab|accessdate = August 18, 2007|last = Kolb|first = Ron|date = December 15, 1995|publisher = Department of Energy|archive-date = July 24, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724010314/http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/distinguished-standing.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> He has been called "the most distinguished developer of particle detection instruments in the country".<ref name="dist"/>

Nygren earned his B.A. degree at Whitman College in 1960, and his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1967. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society.<ref name="APS">{{cite web|url = http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?name=David%20Robert%20Nygren&year=1998|title = 1998 W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics Recipient|accessdate = August 18, 2007|publisher = American Physical Society}}</ref>

==Honors and awards== * 2018 - IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-09/uota-udn090717.php |title=UTA's David Nygren receives Marie Sklodowska-Curie award |editor=University of Texas at Arlington |date=2017-09-07 |access-date=2019-06-07}}</ref> * 2015 - APS ''Division of Particles and Fields Instrumentation Award'' <ref>{{cite web |url=https://cerncourier.com/faces-places-38/ |title=Faces & Places: Nygren, Radeka, and Witten receive new awards from the American Physical Society |work=CERN Courier |date=2015-11-13 |access-date=2019-06-07}}</ref> * 2015 - Aldo Menzione award from Frontier Detectors for Frontier Physics Society awarded at 13th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors<ref name=menzione>{{cite web|title=UT Arlington physicist awarded prestigious Aldo Menzione Prize for Time Projection Chamber|url=http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2015/04/nygren-menzione-prize.php#sthash.k1OrE9Dg.dpuf|accessdate=July 7, 2015|archive-date=July 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708030515/http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2015/04/nygren-menzione-prize.php#sthash.k1OrE9Dg.dpuf|url-status=dead}}</ref> * 2015 - Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2015/12/NAI-fellows-2015.php |title=National Academy of Inventors names three UTA top researchers as Fellows |work=uta.edu |date=2015-12-17 |access-date=2019-06-07 |archive-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505134923/https://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2015/12/NAI-fellows-2015.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2013 - Lifetime Achievement Award from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<ref name=berk-labs-lifetime-2014>{{cite web|last=Weiner |first=Jon |title=Berkeley Lab Announces Director's Awards: Physicist, Big Data Expert Recognized for Lifetime Achievement |url=https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2013/05/30/berkeley-lab-announces-directors-awards-physicist-big-data-expert-recognized-for-lifetime-achievement/ |work=Newsletter |date=2013-05-30 |publisher=Berkeley Lab |accessdate=April 6, 2014}}</ref> * 2008 - Honorary doctorate, Stockholm University * 2000 - Member, National Academy of Sciences * 1998 - W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics<ref name=APS1>{{cite web|title=1998 W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in Experimental Particle Physics Recipient|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Nygren&first_nm=David&year=1998|accessdate=2019-02-22}}</ref> * 1995 - Distinguished Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory<ref name="dist"/> * 1985 - Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award<ref name="EOL" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.jotdown.es/2012/09/david-nygren-y-alessandro-bettini-the-physics-as-fountain-of-eternal-youth/ Interview with Alexandro Bettini in Jot Down Magazine, September, 2012] * {{cite web |url=https://history.aip.org/phn/11607025.html |title=David R. Nygren |work=Physics History Network, AIP}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygren, David R.}} Category:1938 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:Whitman College alumni Category:University of Washington alumni Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Winners of the Panofsky Prize Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society Category:21st-century American physicists

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