Pearl Sandick

Pearl Sandick is the Dean of the College of Science and a Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah. She earned her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Minnesota in 2008 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Theory Group at the University of Texas at Austin prior to joining the University of Utah as an Assistant Professor in 2011. She advanced to Associate Professor and subsequently to Full Professor. Sandick served as Associate Dean for Faculty and Research in the College of Science starting in 2022, was appointed Interim Dean in March 2025, and became the permanent Dean effective February 2026. Her research centers on theoretical particle physics, with a focus on physics beyond the Standard Model and dark matter phenomenology. This includes investigations into indirect detection signatures, cosmological impacts of dark matter candidates, gamma-ray backgrounds, dwarf satellite galaxies, and interactions with black holes and primordial structures.

Key publications include "Indirect detection of hot dark matter" (Journal of High Energy Physics, 2025), "Clustering with Light (but Massive) Relics" (2025), "Supermassive black hole binaries in ultralight dark matter" (Physical Review D, 2024), "New dark matter analysis of Milky Way dwarf satellite galaxies with collective oscillations" (2024), and "SUSY dark matter: Beyond the standard paradigm" (AIP Conference Proceedings, 2016). Sandick has received major awards for teaching and mentoring, such as the University of Utah Early Career Teaching Award, Distinguished Mentor Award (2020), Linda K. Amos Award for Distinguished Service to Women (2022), and Presidential Scholar recognition (2020). She has held roles including Director of Graduate Studies in the Physics Department and has given public lectures, including "Searching for Light from Dark Matter" at the Natural History Museum of Utah (2022). Her scholarly impact is reflected in a Google Scholar h-index of 23 and 39 i10-index publications.

Professional Email: pearl.sandick@utah.edu