Carnegie Mellon University

The Buhl Professorship and the Buhl Lecture Series

Henry Buhl, Jr.The Buhl Chair in Theoretical Physics was established at Carnegie Mellon in 1961 by the Buhl Foundation, which originates from the bequest of Henry Buhl, Jr., the founder of the Boggs & Buhl department store, an institution at Federal Street on Pittsburgh's North Side until 1958.

The Buhl Chair is bestowed upon an outstanding theoretical physicist who both impacts theoretical research and helps establish directions for experimental investigations. Richard Cutkosky was the first Buhl Professor of Theoretical Physics until his death in 1993 after a long and illustrious career at CMU. Fred Gilman has been the holder of the Buhl Chair since 1995.

Each year the Buhl Professor invites an internationally recognized scientist to give a public lecture on a topic of current interest in Physics. The lectures are geared towards a broad audience. Past speakers in the Buhl Lecture Series are listed below.

Prof. Frederick Gilman

Fred Gilman, the current
Buhl Professor of Theretical Physics

Past Lectures

Buhl Lecture 2019:

Suzanne Staggs

Princeton University

Looking Backwards with the Cosmic Microwave Background

Buhl Poster 2019

Buhl Lecture 2018:

Robert Kirshner

Harvard University

Exploding Stars, Dark Energy and the Accelerating Cosmos

Watch on YouTube

Buhl Poster 2018

Buhl Lecture 2017:

William Bialek

Princeton University

The Physics of Life: How Much Can We Calculate?

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2017

Buhl Lecture 2016:

Barry Barish

California Institute of Technology

Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: "Listening" for Gravitational Waves

Watch on Youtube

Buhl 2016

Buhl Lecture 2015:

Larry Abbott

Columbia University

Learning to Predict: Studies of Neural Circuits in Fish and Flies

Watch on Youtube

Buhl 2015

Buhl Lecture 2014:

Carlos Bustamante

University of California, Berkeley

Biochemistry and Biophysics One Molecule at a Time: When Less is More

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2014

Buhl Lecture 2013:

Norbert Holtkamp

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Particle Accelerators: Tools for a Better Life, Ships of Discovery, Technologies for the Future

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2013

Buhl Lecture 2012:

Daniel Eisenstein

Harvard University

Dark Energy and Cosmic Sound

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2012

Buhl Lecture 2011:

Scott Aaronson

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Quantum Computing and the Limits of the Efficiently Computable

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2001

Buhl Lecture 2010:

William M. Gelbart

University of California, Los Angeles

Viruses "From Scratch"

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2010

Buhl Lecture 2009:

Edward "Rocky" Kolb

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Mysteries of the Dark Universe

Watch on YouTube

Buhl 2009

Buhl Lecture 2008:

Joel Primack

University of Califormia, Santa Cruz

A Brief History of Matter

Buhl 2008

Buhl Lecture 2007:

David Gross

University of Califormia, Santa Barbara

The Future of Physics

Buhl 2007

Buhl Lecture 2006:

Keith Hodgson

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Brighter Than a Quadrillion Suns: Photon Science in the 21st Century

Buhl 2006

Buhl Lecture 2005:

Hitoshi Muriyama

University of California, Berkeley

E = mc2

Buhl 2005

Buhl Lecture 2004:

Michael S. Turner

University of Chicago

The Dark Side of the Universe: Beyond Stars and the Starstuff We Are Made Of

Buhl 2004

Buhl Lecture 2003:

Steven Chu

Stanford University

Single Molecule Biology: It's More Than Just Showing Off

Buhl 2003

Buhl Lecture 2002:

Saul Perlmutter

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Supernovae, Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe

Buhl 2002

Buhl Lecture 2001:

Jonathan Dorfan

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Matter Versus Anti-Matter in the Universe and in the Laboratory

Buhl 2001

Buhl Lecture 2000:

Barry Barish

California Institute of Technology

Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: "Listening" for Gravitational Waves

Buhl Y2K

Buhl Lecture 1999:

Nathan Selberg

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

The Pursuit of Unification: Fulfilling Einstein's Dream

Buhl 1999

Buhl Lecture 1998:

T. D. Lee

Columbia University

Symmetries and Asymmetries

Buhl 1998

Buhl Lecture 1997:

Edward "Rocky" Kolb

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

From the Primordial Soup to Pittsburgh

Buhl 1997

Buhl Lecture 1996:

John N. Bahcall

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Recent Discoveries with the Hubble Space Telescope

Buhl 1996