Francis Halzen was traveling for a science festival in Bergamo, Italy, when he learned last week that he was the recipient of the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics. When the University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor returned to campus on Monday, Oct. 12, his colleagues were ready to celebrate the achievement. Members of the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) and the UW–Madison Physical Sciences Lab joined Halzen at the WIPAC office for a work party, complete with a Nobel-themed cake. His Department of Physics colleagues will host a similar celebration on Tuesday.
Although Halzen was the sole recipient of the physics prize — the first since 1992 — he has acknowledged his many colleagues and collaborators who have helped make his vision for the NSF IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica a scientific success.
“Congratulations, Francis!” When Nobel Prize winner Francis Halzen returned to campus on Monday, he was greeted by congratulatory notes from his colleagues attached to his office door. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonHalzen’s campus colleagues applauded his Nobel Prize achievement during a celebration at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC) office on Monday. Members of WIPAC and the UW–Madison Physical Sciences Lab joined the event. A similar celebration with the Department of Physics will take place Tuesday. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonPerhaps a little starstruck, 10-year-old Elliott Kelly (center) shook hands with a newly minted Nobel Prize winner. His father, John Kelly (left), is director of operations of the IceCube project. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonHalzen (left) and WIPAC director Dan Hooper looked at a printed photograph of the team at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonHalzen approved of a cake decorated with a Nobel Prize medal. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonFrom discovering neutrinos at the South Pole to cutting a cake for colleagues, Francis Halzen can do it all. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–MadisonHalzen celebrated the big news with dozens of colleagues, including Jim Yeck (center), UW–Madison researcher and former project director for the Electron-Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Jeff Cherwinka (left), senior mechanical engineer for the Physical Sciences Lab. Photo: Althea Dotzour / UW–Madison
