The College of Science is proud to share that Dr. Arkadii Krokhin of UNT Physics has been named a University Distinguished Research Professor by the UNT Foundation and Faculty Success! This award recognizes tenured faculty who have achieved a truly exceptional record of creative activities or research productivity and who demonstrate a record of continued extraordinary productivity.

"The award is due to the research contributions I have made during the last forty years in Solid State Physics," said Dr. Krokhin. "My two most recent grants are related to the study of acoustical metamaterials which may exhibit nonreciprocal transmission of sound and waveguiding of high-power laser radiation."

Over his career, Dr. Krokhin's research has involved multiple areas of physics: Anderson localization, enhancement of spontaneous emission, the theory of periodic dielectric and elastic structures, nonreciprocal acoustics, and nondestructive testing.

"My most recent research interests are in optical and acoustical metamaterials," said Dr. Krokhin. "Metamaterials are artificially fabricated structures which may exhibit properties which can hardly (or never) were observed in natural materials."

Dr. Krokhin is part of a team of UNT experts who recently received a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Air Force Office of Scientific Research for a major new project focused on infrared laser technology.

For the past four years Dr. Krokhin has also been responsible for organizing UNT Physics' REM (Research Experience and Mentoring) summer program supported by NSF. This program is for undergrads, high-school students, and teachers who are interested in doing research.

"In the last conference in DC one of my REM participants [Matthew Li, TAMS] was awarded the first place to his presentation among all the undergraduates," said Dr. Krokhin. "In previous years my students always were awarded prizes for their presentations."

Dr. Krokhin will be honored at UNT's Salute to Faculty Excellence event taking place on April 26, 2024. This event is hosted each spring by Faculty Success and the UNT Foundation. For more information about the Faculty Excellence Awards and the 2024 winners, please visit https://vpaa.unt.edu/fs/recognition/SFE-winners-24