Note: This is the first story in a series highlighting the Ellwood City Area Hall of Fame Induction class of 2022 leading up to the induction of the 2023 Hall of Fame class that will be announced at the October 6th Homecoming Game.
He’s a little bit musician, a little bit mechanic, and a lot mad scientist … and by mad, I mean mad COOL!
Dr. Jeffrey Hangst, Hall of Fame Class of 2022, and Lincoln Class of 1975 graduate is an experimental particle physicist at Aarhus University, Denmark, and founder and spokesperson of the ALPHA collaboration at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) at CERN. CERN is the European laboratory for research in particle physics and is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
In addition, his dream as a 10-year-old of being the professor from Gilligan’s Island actually came true. When classes are in session, he flies to Denmark once a week, stays overnight, teaches his class, and then flies back to his laboratory in Geneva.
Despite some of the beyond the imagination experiments and accomplishments that Hangst has led or been involved in, he said becoming a physics professor has been one of his biggest challenges.
“Everything about becoming a professor of physics is challenging. I guess learning to work in a truly international environment and understanding many different cultures is the biggest. It’s challenging but extremely rewarding.”
Some Career Highlights
Outside of teaching, his impressive career includes some groundbreaking research over the years. He was also one of the founding members and the Physics Coordinator of the ALPHA collaboration at the AD facility. His research area focuses on the production, trapping and spectroscopic and gravitational studies of antihydrogen – the antimatter equivalent of the hydrogen atom. Hangst is one of the world’s leading researchers in the domain of antimatter physics. In 2002, the ALPHA collaboration was the first to synthesize antihydrogen from trapped plasmas of antiprotons and positrons. This result was featured on the front page of The New York Times. In 2010, the ALPHA collaboration demonstrated the first trapping of antihydrogen atoms, opening the door to the first spectroscopic measurements of anti-atomic matter.
“I have had many successes with my experiments here at CERN. I guess the first one was creation of the antihydrogen atom in 2002 – this was on the front page of The New York Times. The other one is starting the ALPHA collaboration, getting it approved at CERN and leading it since 2005.” Learn more about ALPHA here.
ALPHA remains the only experiment to ever measure any of the properties of antihydrogen. The new ALPHA-g experiment is currently studying the effects of gravity on antimatter. ALPHA is an international collaboration of about 60 scientists from 17 institutes in 9 countries. Much of his research is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation in Denmark.
Dr. Jeffrey Hangst, Hall of Fame Class of 2022, and Lincoln Class of 1975 graduate
What It Takes To Be A Scientist
If you are wondering what it takes to be a successful scientist and professor, it takes work, dedication, and time.
“I spend most of my time in the laboratory, and some time in online meetings with the whole collaboration (~60 scientists). The experiment runs 24 hours a day, so I can also be on evening or night shift.”
Small Town Roots
Even though his resume is full of world-scale experience and accolades, Hangst’s roots are in our small town of Ellwood City.
“You would think that someone from a small town like Ellwood City wouldn’t be as well-prepared as students from big cities, but my LHS education was better than most – even at a place like MIT. I have still never met anyone else who had a course in nuclear science (Don Winegar) in high school.”
Hangst also mentioned teacher Ken Schaffer as a local influence.
“He encouraged me to extend myself and take advantage of my abilities.”
After high school, Hangst continued his education and obtained his bachelor’s in physics and master’s in nuclear engineering in 1980 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1992.
And even though Hangst has fond memories of Ellwood City, he now calls Switzerland home. He has two daughters, Zofia and Amelie, who live in Switzerland and two sons, Kristian and Jonas who live in Denmark. His sister Amy Love still resides in Ellwood City.
Life Beyond Science
Hangst’s involvement at CERN has not only fed his love of science but also his love of music. He met a rather famous friend during this time there.
“I am friends with quite a few rock stars, who have visited CERN. The most famous is probably Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. We are in regular contact, and I have hung out with him after his concerts twice in the past year.”
Hangst is an active guitar player (rock, blues, acoustic blues) and currently plays in a cover band called Diracula.
“I also build guitars and do other woodworking. Cycling, scuba diving, traveling. I’ve been to about 50 countries.”
He also has an old sports car (a Lotus) that he has completely restored.
“I have always enjoyed working with cars.”
The Future Is Bright
Hangst has won numerous awards for his work and is a Fellow of The American Physical Society and a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. And although he has already accomplished so many firsts, he is looking forward to more groundbreaking experiments.
“We are about to publish the first ever measurement on the effect of gravity on antimatter. This is an incredibly difficult experiment that has taken many years to develop. We also have lots of challenging measurements to make on the properties of antimatter.”
Although Hangst’s motto is “Nobody remembers who came in second,” he said his ambitious and competitive nature is actually very lighthearted.
“I just want to be remembered as a successful scientist who did some things that many other scientists thought would be impossible.”
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