David D. Nolte

David D. Nolte (born 1959) is an American physicist working in semiconductors, nonlinear optics and interferometry. He holds the position of Edward Mills Purcell Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Purdue University.

Career

Nolte received his BA in 1981 from Cornell University and worked at DESY (Deutsches Electronen-Synchroton) on a DAAD scholarship before attending the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his PhD in Solid State Physics in 1988 under Eugene Haller and Leo Falicov. After graduation, he spent one year as a post-doctoral member of staff at AT&T Bell Labs working with Alastair Glass in the Optical Materials Department in Holmdel, NJ. ^[1]

Nolte joined Purdue in 1989 as an Assistant Professor and received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1991. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994 and later to Full Professor in 1999. ^[2]

Nolte is the author of three trade nonfiction books that popularize the history of science: Mind at Light Speed (Free Press, 2001), ^[3] Galileo Unbound (Oxford University Press, 2018) ^[4] , and Interference (Oxford University Press, 2023). ^[5] He also has authored physics textbooks on modern dynamics and biointerferometry.

Based on patents from his NSF-funded research, ^[6] Nolte co-founded two biotech start-up companies. Quadraspec, Inc., founded in 2004, commercialized the BioCD ^[7] technology that was marketed by Antech Diagnostics beginning in 2008 for canine health screening. ^{[8] [9]} Animated Dynamics Inc. (ADI), founded in 2011, is developing biodynamic Doppler imaging (BDI) for cancer therapy selection. ^[10]

Awards and honors

• NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991) ^[11]

• Fellow of the Optical Society of America (1997) ^[12]

• Fellow of the American Physical Society (2002) ^[13]

• Herbert Newby McCoy Award, Purdue University (2005) ^{[14] [15]}

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012) ^[16]

• Outstanding Faculty Commercialization Award (2017) ^{[17] [18]}

References

1. "Nolte biography". Purdue University. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
2. "David D. Nolte: Department of Physics and Astronomy". Purdue University. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
3. Walmsley, Ian (2002). "Making Light Work of Computing". Nature. 416 (6880): 477. Bibcode:2002Natur.416..477W. doi:10.1038/416477a . Retrieved 17 September 2025.
4. "Oxford University Press" . Retrieved 18 September 2025.
5. "Optics and Photonics News". Optica. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
6. "Microscope Technology Earns NSF Boost". Inside Indiana Business. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
7. CARLSON B (2006). "The BioCD". Biotechnology Healthcare. 3 (5): 11–14. PMC   3571054 . PMID   23424380.
8. "Quadraspec and Antech Form Key Partnership (2008)". Biospace. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
9. "Antech Diagnostics (2008)". Formaspace. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
10. "Biotech Firm Lands Funding for Cancer Targeting". Indiana Business Journal. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
11. "David Nolte NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award". NSF. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
12. "Optica Fellows in Biomedical Optics". Optica. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
13. "APS Member awarded Fellowship in Division of Laser Science". APS. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
14. "Award Recipients Office of Research". Purdue. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
15. "McCoy Award". Purdue. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
16. "Purdue faculty chosen as fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science" (PDF). Retrieved 17 September 2025.
17. "Outstanding Faculty Commercialization Award (2017)". 30 October 2020.
18. "Purdue Names Top Commercialization Award". Elevate Ventures. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2025.