Welcome.

Dedman Physics Faculty Stephen Sekula meets with graduate students in the Fondren Science Building, Thursday, October 28, 2021 on the SMU Campus.

NOTA BENE! This site is no longer maintained and lives on at https://steve.cooleysekula.net/.

Latest News

A New Adventure – from SMU to SNOLABJuly 10, 2022
I write this last news item with a heavy heart: after July 31, 2022, I will no longer be on the faculty at SMU. My… Read more: A New Adventure – from SMU to SNOLAB
Congratulations, 2022 Graduates!May 15, 2022
I am thrilled to congratulate the seven Biophysical Science and Physics degree recipients, who graduated in May 2022! This year our department saw the second… Read more: Congratulations, 2022 Graduates!

Biography

I served as a Professor of Experimental Particle Physics at SMU from August 2009 until August 2022, and was Chair of the Department of Physics from 2020-2022. While at SMU, my research focus was primarily the study of the Higgs particle. I was a member of the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) Experiment located at the Large Hadron Collider, a research facility hosted by the CERN Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. IMy focus was the study of the interactions of the Higgs particle with the second-heaviest building block of matter, the bottom quark, to learn what it can teach us about the origin of the universe. I participated in two major discoveries about the Higgs particle: the measurement of its spin-parity quantum numbers using Higgs decays to four leptons (particles like the electron) and the first ever observation of the Higgs directly interacting with quarks. I was also a leader in the growing community of nuclear and particle physicists engaged in planning for the Electron-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. I coordinated the study the identification of quark-initiated jets in the context of the ATHENA (A Totally Hermetic Electron-Nucleus Apparatus) experiment proposal. Members of ATHENA and other proposals joined forces in 2022 to initiate “Detector I” at the EIC. In addition to my research, I taught physics at SMU, including introductory physics and modern physics, honors physics, and a teaching practicum for graduate students. I was an SMU Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor. I am a co-author of the book “Reality in the Shadows (or) What the Heck’s the Higgs,” aimed to help a general audience understand the big questions facing physics. I am also authoring other books, including a series meant to interest the general public and help college students find greater context for those challenging introductory level courses. Check out “The Friendly Physics Guides to … ” available from Amazon!

After July of 2022, I left the faculty at SMU to move to Sudbury, Canada, where my spouse and colleague Dr. Jodi Cooley began her first term as Executive Director of SNOLAB.