Richard J. Temkin received the B.A. degree from Harvard College and the Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From 1971 to 1974, he was an IBM Postdoctoral Fellow with the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics, Harvard University.
In 1974, Dr. Temkin joined MIT’s Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory as a research scientist. In 1980, he became a Group Leader in the newly formed MIT Plasma Fusion Center. In 1985, he accepted a position as a Senior Scientist in the MIT Physics Department while maintaining his research program at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). From 1986 to 2018, he was Head of the MIT PSFC’s Waves and Beams Division. From 1997-1998, he served as Assistant Director of the MIT PSFC and from 1998-2018, he served as Associate Director. He is currently a Senior Scientist in the MIT Physics Dept. and Head of the PSFC’s Plasma Technology Division. Dr. Temkin has served as the thesis supervisor of 42 MIT Ph. D. students and has supervised many Masters and undergraduate students.
Dr. Temkin’s research interests include vacuum electronics, accelerator physics, high power microwaves, Terahertz radiation, microwave transmission and the application of terahertz sources to Dynamic Nuclear Polarization NMR. Dr. Temkin has been the author or co-author of more than 250 refereed journal articles and three book chapters. He has been the editor of seven conference proceedings. Dr. Temkin has served as the Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Associate Editor of the Journal of Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves and as a Board Member of the Physical Review.
Dr. Temkin is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, London. He has been the recipient of the IEEE Plasma Science and Applications Award, the Kenneth J. Button Prize and Medal of the Institute of Physics, the Exceptional Service Award of the Intl. Soc. IRMMW and THz Waves, the Robert L. Woods Award for Vacuum Electronics, a Certificate of Recognition from the IEEE Electron Device Society and a Certificate of Merit from the Department of Energy and the ITER Program.
John R. Pierce Award for Excellence in Vacuum Electronics 2024
For pioneering research and for student education in high frequency and high power vacuum electron devices and their applications.
