UF distinguished professor emeritus elected to National Academy of Sciences

Pierre Sikivie, a UF Distinguished Professor Emeritus, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences — one of the highest honors in science.
Sikivie is widely recognized physicist for his pioneering work on axions, hypothetical particles that could help explain dark matter, a major mystery in physics.
His election adds to a distinguished career that includes major honors from the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and makes him the 16th UF faculty member in the academy.

University of Florida Distinguished Professor Emeritus Pierre Sikivie, Ph.D., was elected last week as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Sikivie is best known for his contributions to the study of axions, which are hypothetical elementary particles that some scientists believe could make up dark matter. As a part of a 120-person class, Sikivie is now one of 2,705 total active members and the 16th UF faculty member. Those who become members are recognized for their achievements in research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and considered one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

“I was completely delighted to hear because I think it’s a great honor,” said Sikivie, emeritus professor in the UF Department of Physics. “It’s wonderful to be elected and counted amongst all the many distinguished people that are part of the academy.”

Sikivie has had an accomplished career, earning the Galileo Galilei Medal in 2025 and the American Physical Society’s 2020 J.J. Sakurai Prize. He also was recognized as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Lifetime Fellow in 2024.

“I congratulate Dr. Sikivie on this tremendous honor. A long and momentous career filled with such significant achievement is deserving of the highest recognition,” said UF Interim President Donald W. Landry. “The University of Florida is fortunate indeed to count him among our own.”

Portrait of Professor Emeritus Pierre Sivikie, Ph.D.

Born in Belgium, Sikivie began his physics career as a student at the University of Liège. After receiving his license in physical sciences in 1970, he attended graduate school at Yale University. He earned his doctorate in 1975 and spent a few years in postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland, the Stanford Linear Accelerator and CERN.

Sikivie came to UF in 1981 as an assistant professor and began working on the cosmological properties of axions. His theories led to the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment at the University of Washington and the CERN Axion Solar Telescope in Geneva.

“There are still a lot of interesting things to say about axionic dark matter,” Sikivie said. “I think people recognize my early work on it, especially the invention of a method to detect axion dark matter.”

And as he and his work grew, so did his new home.

“UF has made a lot of strides,” Sikivie said. “It is getting more and more recognized as a research university. My wife and I are happy to have been part of this evolution of the university and its growth in reputation.”