Smitha Vishveshwara Wins AIP’s 2025 Andrew Gemant Award for Intertwining Physics, Theater, and Fiction

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2025 – The American Institute of Physics is pleased to announce Smitha Vishveshwara as the winner of the 2025 Andrew Gemant Award.

Vishveshwara was chosen “for [her] years of creatively blending science teaching, theater, and art in ways that inspire and communicate the principles and elegance of physics through artistic expression,” the citation reads.

“The unique nature of this award lends itself to Dr. Vishveshwara’s strengths as an accomplished artist and physicist,” said Michael Moloney, CEO of AIP. “The way she uses storytelling to communicate complex physics topics makes her a paragon for science communication and interdisciplinarity.”

Born to two accomplished physicists, Vishveshwara was discussing the cosmos with her father at a young age. Those conversations inspired her recently published book, “Two Revolutions: Einstein’s Relativity and Quantum Physics: A Dialogue between Father and Daughter.” Written over 12 years, the book is a collection of letters between Vishveshwara and her father, discussing the different principles of quantum physics.

While physics had a profound impact on her upbringing, so did theater, as her grandfather was a playwright. Leaning on that upbringing, Vishveshwara and collaborators create live performances that blend science and the art of storytelling, weaving together complex physics concepts, narrative, music, theater, and dance.

This past March, at the Global Physics Summit of the American Physical Society, an AIP Member Society, Vishveshwara and her colleagues performed the play Quantum Voyages. The story was conceived and written by Vishveshwara and fellow theater-maker Latrelle Bright and follows two adventurers as they travel through different quantum realms guided by the spirit of wisdom.

The play was inspired by physics principles, the spirit of discovery and enchantment, and her son’s participation in a production of “The Nutcracker.”

A practicing quantum physicist, Vishveshwara also serves on the steering committee for the International Year of Quantum (2025). Her work stems from curiosity for the spectacular and often hidden world we live in, she said.

“The deep dives into the arts have inspired my scientific research all the more. Combined, the disciplines have offered us new flavors of creativity, imagination, playfulness, and awe in our collaborative exploration of nature and humanity,” she said.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in physics from Cornell University, Vishveshwara obtained her Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2002, she joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a postdoc, and in 2005 she became a professor of condensed matter physics.

She saw teaching as a channel to combine her passions with her education and build with younger generations. At Urbana-Champaign, she developed “Where the Arts Meet Physics,” a project-based course in which students steep in a range of physics concepts and artistic media and create new work.

Vishveshwara also created the Collective for Art-Science, Creativity and Discovery, etc. (CASCaDe) with longtime artistic collaborators Latrelle Bright and Stephen Taylor. CASCaDe currently serves as a collective for scientists and artists from academia and beyond.

“I feel highly grateful to be able to embrace science-art-humanity as a way of life and for all the nurturing influences that made it possible,” Vishveshwara said. “I’m very honored to receive this award and moved by how it resonates with my outlook and our communal practice.”

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ABOUT THE AWARD

The Andrew Gemant Award recognizes the accomplishments of a person who has made significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics and is given annually. The award is made possible by a bequest of Andrew Gemant to the American Institute of Physics.

The awardee receives a $5,000 cash award, designates an academic institution to receive a grant of $3,000 to further the public communication of physics, and is invited to deliver a public lecture in a suitable forum.

ABOUT AIP

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, AIP is a federation that advances the success of our Member Societies and an institute that engages in research and analysis to empower positive change in the physical sciences. The mission of AIP (American Institute of Physics) is to advance, promote, and serve the physical sciences for the benefit of humanity.

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For More Information:

AIP Media
+1-301-209-3090
media@aip.org