David M. Lee is a preeminent physicist whose groundbreaking research has profoundly advanced the understanding of quantum phenomena at ultra-low temperatures. He currently holds the position of Distinguished Professor of Physics at Texas A&M University, where he relocated his laboratory in 2009 after a remarkable fifty-year tenure at Cornell University. Born in Rye, New York on January 20, 1931, Lee completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University in 1952 before earning his Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University in 1959. Upon joining Cornell, he established the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, developing one of the nation's leading low-temperature research facilities that would become the foundation for his Nobel Prize-winning discoveries.
Lee's most celebrated scientific achievement occurred in 1972 when, in collaboration with Robert C. Richardson and graduate student Douglas Osheroff, he discovered superfluidity in helium-3, a breakthrough that fundamentally transformed low-temperature physics and earned them the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics. Using a Pomeranchuk cell to cool helium-3 to within thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, they detected unexpected phase transitions that revealed the quantum mechanical behavior of this rare isotope, resolving a longstanding question about whether helium-3 could exhibit superfluid properties. Beyond this landmark discovery, Lee made numerous other significant contributions to condensed matter physics including identifying antiferromagnetic ordering in solid helium-3, discovering nuclear spin waves in spin-polarized atomic hydrogen gas, and determining the tri-critical point on the phase separation curve of liquid helium-3 and helium-4 mixtures.
As a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1991 and recipient of the prestigious Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize in 1981, Lee has shaped the trajectory of experimental physics for more than half a century. His research group at Cornell mentored generations of scientists who have gone on to make their own substantial contributions to the field, with his collaborative approach fostering interdisciplinary connections between physics and chemistry departments. Lee continues his scientific endeavors at Texas A&M University through active research investigating quantum phenomena at the lowest temperatures achievable, maintaining his laboratory's legacy of precision experimentation. His enduring impact extends beyond specific discoveries to establishing low-temperature physics as a critical domain for exploring fundamental quantum mechanical principles, with implications reaching into modern technologies including precision measurement systems and quantum computing research.
