Speaker Event: A Woman in Particle Physics with Helen Quinn

Step inside the hidden world of matter and forces with Helen Quinn — pioneering particle physicist, Portola Valley resident, and Stanford PhD — at a special SLAC talk hosted by Women@SLAC ERG and SLAC HEDS.

Quinn is renowned for co-developing the Peccei–Quinn symmetry, a foundational idea that continues to influence the search for axion dark matter. Her theoretical work spans grand unified theories, weak interactions, CP violation, and the Higgs boson. A longtime member of the Stanford–SLAC community, Quinn helped shape SLAC’s theory program and mentored generations of students and collaborators, strengthening the lab’s culture of discovery.

Beyond research, Quinn has profoundly impacted science education. She chaired the National Research Council committee that produced A Framework for K–12 Science Education, the blueprint for the Next Generation Science Standards used nationwide. She also co-founded the Contemporary Physics Education Project, known for accessible resources like the “Chart of Fundamental Particles,” and has served in leadership roles across the field, including as President of the American Physical Society. Additionally, she served as a SULI coordinator during her time at SLAC.

Her distinguished contributions have been recognized with major honors such as the Dirac Medal, the J.J. Sakurai Prize, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics.

Join us to hear firsthand about Quinn’s trailblazing career, the thrill of discovering fundamental particles, and the forces that shape everything around us — from the tiniest building blocks of matter to the birth of stars and the early moments of the cosmos. Helen’s talk is full of fascinating stories, personal experiences, and the excitement of exploring a world that is invisible to the naked eye but governs all that we know.
 

Event details

• Title: A Woman in Particle Physics with Helen Quinn
• Date and time: Thursday, January 22, 3:00 pm PT
• Location: B51 Kavli Auditorium (Kavli) or Zoom: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/92307492880?pwd=Pf28YOOrvOqhYYhXm9SG6CZELiQN9m.1
• Refreshments: Light refreshments provided

Who should attend

• All SLAC employees, users, students, and affiliates interested in physics, discovery, and the human stories behind science.

Add this to your calendar and bring a colleague — this is a chance to hear from a SLAC trailblazer whose work has reshaped both particle physics and science education.