Thomas Reinecke

Class of 1968: Quantum Physicist

Tom Reinecke is Ripon’s second Rhodes Scholar. He has been with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., since 1974 and now is a broad-based solid state and quantum physicist.

He was born July 14, 1945, and grew up in Ripon. At Ripon College, he majored in physics and mathematics. He played tennis for the College and also was a champion archer who made the All-American college archery team and trained for the 1968 Olympics.

In 1967, he was selected as one of 32 American Rhodes Scholars to study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom in the same cohort as future U.S. President Bill Clinton. He earned his Ph.D. in condensed matter theory from Oxford in 1972.

After two years on the faculty of Brown University, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory, the Department of the Navy’s corporate laboratory that supports a broad program of scientific research, technology and advanced development.

His positions have included senior scientist for nanoelectronics, head of the Electronic and Optical Properties Section of the Electronics Division, head of the semiconductor physics section, and Senior Executive Service position there.

He is the author of more than 250 refereed journal articles with more than 20,000 citations in a wide range of nanoscience and solid state physics. His research interests are in a range of nanoscience, including quantum information technology, thermoelectric materials, and electronic, thermal and optical properties of materials.

He has been a visiting professor at the Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany, and universities in Wuerzburg, Stuttgart and Dortmund. He also lectures widely at university and research institutions throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society at the age of 36.

Other major honors include the 1994 Humboldt Research Award for senior scientists by the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, one of the major science prizes in the world; the 1982 award for basic research from Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society; the Horsley Research Award of the Virginia Academy of Science in 1995; the E. O. Hulburt Award of the Naval Research Laboratory in 1999; the Presidential Rank Award for government service in 2005; the Navy Outstanding Scientist and Engineer Award in 2006; and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2014.

“The Naval Research Laboratory has given me the opportunity to work at one of the world’s leading research institutions and to lead a broad range of work on important problems that address critical needs of the Navy, the Department of Defense and the nation,” Reinecke said.

He received Ripon’s Distinguished Alumni Citation in 2013.