Profile
Murray S Daw
Physics and Astronomy
Dean's Distinguished Professor
864-656-6702
Kinard Lab 202A [Office]
Educational Background
BS, Physics, U Florida, 1976
PhD, Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, 1981
Profile/About Me
Following my PhD, I worked at Sandia National Labs, eventually being promoted to Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. In 1994, I moved to Clemson University as Professor, later being given the title of R. A. Bowen Professor and then the Dean's Distinguished Professor. During a brief period I went on leave to work at Motorola, helping to improve their advanced semiconductor manufacturing process, and also acted as liaison between Motorola and two national labs (Los Alamos and Sandia).
Research Interests
I have worked on the theory of materials for four decades, mostly on the atomistic scale. In the early 80's, Mike Baskes and I originated the Embedded Atom Method (EAM), which rejuvenated the field of atomic-scale simulations of metals. Since that time, the EAM has become the workhorse in that field, is very highly cited each year, and has garnered significant recognition and earned many awards. Recently Mike Chandross (Sandia) and I have developed a "generic" EAM which allows investigations of properties of metals in a new way that we call "inside out".
While I have continued working on the theory of materials, I have also been increasingly involved in the first principles of physics, which rigorous builds our understanding of the physical world beginning with what we sense. This work is in collaboration with other members of the Institute for Advanced Physics (IAP), which is lead by Dr. Anthony Rizzi (formerly a senior member of the LIGO team, whose PI's won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for the team's experimental discovery of gravitational waves).
Courses Taught
Over the last decade I have mostly taught the Introductory Physics with Calculus courses to physics majors, based on the very new and well-grounded textbook series "Physics for Realists" by Anthony Rizzi.
Honors and Awards
Department of Energy Award for Sustained Outstanding Research
Sandia Award for Excellence
Clemson University Board of Trustees Award for Faculty Excellence
Fellow, American Physical Society
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Centennial Professor, Clemson University
