About Dr. Erica Carlson

Erica W. Carlson, Ph.D., is Professor of Physics at Purdue University. Prof. Carlson holds a B.S. in Physics from the California Institute of Technology (1994), as well as an M.S. (1995) and Ph.D. (2000) in Physics from UCLA. She was a postdoctoral scientist at Boston University before joining the faculty at Purdue University in 2003. A theoretical physicist, Dr. Carlson researches electronic phase transitions and electronic fractals in quantum materials. In 2006, Dr. Carlson received the Cottrell Scholar Award for excellence in research and teaching. In 2015, she was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society "for theoretical insights into the critical role of electron nematicity, disorder, and noise in novel phases of strongly correlated electron systems and predicting unique characteristics." At Purdue University, Dr. Carlson has won multiple teaching awards, including the University’s highest teaching award (the Murphy Award), and she was recently named a "150th Anniversary Professor" in recognition of teaching excellence. When she’s not doing science, Dr. Carlson likes to travel with her husband, dance and swim with her children, and study theology and foreign languages.