| Randall David Kamien | |
| Birth Date: | 25 February 1966 |
| Birth Place: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Fields: | Condensed Matter Physics |
| Workplaces: | Harvard University Institute for Advanced Study University of Pennsylvania |
| Alma Mater: | California Institute of Technology (B.S., 1988) California Institute of Technology (M.S., 1988) Harvard University (Ph.D, 1992) |
| Thesis Title: | Directed Line Liquids |
| Thesis1 Url: | and |
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| Thesis Year: | 1992 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | David R. Nelson |
| Known For: | Grain boundaries Focal conic domains Liquid crystals |
| Awards: | G.W. Gray Medal British Liquid Crystal Society (2016) |
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Randall David Kamien (born February 25, 1966) is a theoretical condensed matter physicist specializing in the physics of liquid crystals and is the Vicki and William Abrams Professor in the Natural Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.[1]
Randall Kamien was born to economist Morton Kamien and Lenore Kamien on February 25, 1966, and grew up in Wilmette, Illinois on the outskirts of Chicago.[2] Kamien completed a B.S. and a M.S. in physics at the California Institute of Technology in 1988 and completed a PhD in physics at Harvard University in 1992 under the supervision of David R. Nelson.[3] Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania he was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Pennsylvania. Kamien was appointed assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and promoted to full professor in 2003.[4] Kamien is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[4] Kamien is the chief editor of Reviews of Modern Physics.[5]
Randall Kamien studies soft condensed matter – and in particular liquid crystalline phases of matter – through the lens of geometry and topology.[6] In particular, Kamien has contributed to understanding Twist Grain Boundaries,[7] Focal Conic Domains,[8] and defect topology in smectic liquid crystals.[9] He is also known for his idiosyncratic naming conventions, such as “Shnerk’s Surface” [10] and “Shmessel Functions.”