Pearl Sandick Appointed Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs for College of Science

“Despite much progress, quantum computing is still in its infancy,” said Dominique Dagenais, NSF program director for electronics, photonics and magnetic devices. “Achieving a robust quantum computer will require transformational breakthroughs. By pursuing a novel material platform, topological insulators, this NSF-funded interdisciplinary research effort led by the University of Utah may help overcome decoherence, one of the field’s major challenges.” ”We are thrilled to receive this award,” said Deshpande. “My group has made recent strides toward improving the quality of topological insulator materials, their heterostructures, and studying the interaction between topological insulator surfaces and with other layered materials. This award brings together a team with the complementary expertise to take this work to the next level and make the advances necessary to test the potential of topological insulators for topological quantum computing.”

In July, the College of Science announced the appointment of Professor Pearl Sandick, from the Department of Physics & Astronomy, as the new Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the College of Science.

Sandick is currently an associate professor of physics and astronomy and recently served as associate chair of the Department of Physics & Astronomy. She received an Early Career Teaching Award from the U in 2016. In her new role, Sandick will assist with strategic hiring initiatives; devise and refine cross-College guidelines for RPT (Retention, Promotion, and Tenure) reviews for both tenure- and career-line faculty; devise and implement guidelines for faculty mentoring; and develop a strategy for the College’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Sandick is a theoretical particle physicist whose research focuses on exploring theories of “new physics” that extend the Standard Model of particle physics to explain phenomena like dark matter.

She is committed to organizations that support women in physics. She has served on the American Physical Society’s Committee on the Status of Women in Physics and was recently the Chair of the National Organizing Committee for the APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics. Locally, she is the founder and faculty sponsor of the U’s chapter of Women in Physics and Astronomy.

Sandick earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2008 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Weinberg Theory Group at the University of Texas at Austin before joining the U in 2011.

Sandick was featured in the spring 2019 issue of the Spectrum.

Pearl Sandick