Rate My Professor Mark Saffman

Mark Saffman is the Johannes Rydberg Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1999, was promoted to associate professor in 2004, and to full professor in 2007. He earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1994 and a B.Sc. in Applied Physics with honors from the California Institute of Technology in 1981. Prior to his academic career at UW-Madison, Saffman served as a senior scientist at Risø National Laboratory in Roskilde, Denmark, from 1994 to 1999. Earlier positions include optical engineer at Dantec Electronics Inc. in Skovlunde, Denmark (1983-1989), and member of the technical staff at TRW Defense and Space Systems in Redondo Beach (1981-1983). Saffman currently holds the position of Chief Scientist for Quantum Information at ColdQuanta, Inc., since 2018, and serves as Director of the Wisconsin Quantum Institute. He is also an associate editor for Physical Review A since 2007.

Saffman's research interests include atomic physics, quantum computing with neutral atoms, quantum optics, entanglement, nonlinear optics, solitons, and pattern formation. He leads the QPAL laboratory, which focuses on quantum information processing and atomic physics. His scholarly output encompasses 145 journal publications, 250 conference proceedings, 4 book chapters, and 6 patents, with key works such as 'Quantum information with Rydberg atoms' (Reviews of Modern Physics, 2010, cited over 3,900 times), 'Multi-qubit entanglement and algorithms on a neutral-atom quantum computer' (Nature, 2022), 'Quantum computing with neutral atoms' (National Science Review, 2016), 'Laser cooling and qubit measurements on a forbidden transition in neutral Cs atoms' (Physical Review Letters, 2025), and 'A universal neutral-atom quantum computer with individual optical addressing and non-destructive readout' (PRX Quantum, 2025). Saffman has received major awards including the 2026 American Physical Society Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, the 2025 Bell Prize, American Physical Society Fellowship (2008), Optical Society of America Fellowship (2013), Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2001-2003), Vilas Associate Award (2010), Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Named Professorship (2022), and APS Outstanding Referee recognition (2026).