“Emeritus Professor John Donoghue has been awarded the 2026 J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics by the American Physical Society (APS). The prize is awarded “for original and lasting contributions to the development of effective field theories, including work on gravity as an effective quantum field theory, and important contributions to chiral perturbation theory.”
The prize, one of the most prestigious in Particle Theory, was endowed in 1984 as a memorial to and in recognition of the accomplishments of J.J. Sakurai "to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in particle theory” and will be presented to John at the annual APS Global Summit in Denver, Co next March. A list of recipients since 1985 is found at https://www.aps.org/funding-recognition/prize/sakurai-prize. The list includes eight theoretical physicists who went on to win a Nobel Prize.
WIth UMass colleagues Barry Holstein (John’s PhD advisor) and Gene Golowich, John contributed key developments in the field of effective chiral perturbation theory and authored the now classic textbook “Dynamics of the Standard Model”, a must-have reference for generations of graduate students and researchers. More recently, John explored new ground by studying weak gravity as an effective quantum field theory.
John’s Sakurai Prize continues a shining tradition of recognized excellence in theoretical particle physics at UMass Amherst and follows two recent APS Hermann Feshbach Prizes in Theoretical Nuclear Physics awarded to Barry Holstein (2019) and Michael Ramsey-Musolf (2023).
Quanta Magazine recently featured John's research: https://www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-theory-of-quantum-gravity-makes-a-comeback-20251117/
Congratulations, John!