Internationally acclaimed physicist named FSU Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor [Video]

High energy physics, or particle physics, is primarily the study of the discovery and characterization of the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. Prosper has actively participated in four major discoveries: the first direct evidence of the gluon, the top quark, electroweak production of single top quarks, and the Higgs boson. 

In his nomination letter, Professor of Physics Todd Adams wrote that while each of the last three were discovered by large collaborations with hundreds or thousands of collaborators, Prosper was not just a member of the collaboration but a leader in the work on that discovery. 

The discovery of the Higgs boson was of particular importance for Prosper.  

Scientists François Englert and Peter W. Higgs independently proposed the existence of the Higgs boson, the particle that gives mass to electrons and other particles. But it was not proven until 2012, when Prosper and his colleagues at CERN discovered …