Rate My Professor jane nachtman

Jane Nachtman is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa, serving as Director of Undergraduate Studies. She earned her B.S. in Physics from the University of Iowa in 1991, M.S. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993, and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997, where her dissertation focused on the search for charginos at the ALEPH detector. Following her doctorate, she held a postdoctoral position at UCLA from 1997 to 2002 under Professor David Saltzberg. She then joined Fermilab in 2002 as an Associate Scientist and Wilson Fellow, advancing to Scientist I until 2007, when she became an Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, later promoted to Professor.

Her research specializes in experimental particle physics, with a focus on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model, including supersymmetry, Higgs boson, and new heavy particles. As a member of the CMS collaboration at the LHC, her group has contributed to the Higgs boson discovery and various searches. She leads efforts in the DUNE and NOvA neutrino experiments, including detector development and data analysis. Recent grants include a $460,000 award from the Fermi Research Alliance in 2024 for commissioning the DUNE ND-LAr demonstrator and developing software for data acquisition and photon detectors. Nachtman has authored over 415 refereed journal publications from collaborations including ALEPH, CDF, and CMS. Notable publications include “Search for chargino-neutralino production in p-pbar collisions” (Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 191806, 2007), “Search for a high-mass diphoton state and limits on Randall-Sundrum gravitons” (Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 171801, 2007), and contributions to supersymmetry searches. She has held leadership roles such as co-leader of the CMS SLHC Calorimeter Upgrade Task and CDF Exotic Physics Group, serves on departmental committees, teaches particle physics courses, supervises graduate students and postdocs, and participates in public outreach.