Samuel C. C. Ting

Profession: Physicist and Nobel Laureate

Nationality:

Biography: Samuel C. C. Ting shared the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics with Burton Richter for discovering a new subatomic particle called the J/ψ meson. He currently leads the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment on the International Space Station, a major project searching for antimatter, dark matter, and studying cosmic rays.

Ting was born in 1936 in Michigan to Chinese immigrant parents, but grew up in China and Taiwan. He returned to the U.S. at age 20, studying at the University of Michigan and earning his Ph.D. in physics in 1962. Ting worked at CERN and taught at Columbia University before joining MIT in 1969.

In 1974, Ting's team at MIT discovered the J/ψ particle, a breakthrough that reshaped particle physics and earned him the Nobel Prize just two years later at age 40.

He later proposed the ambitious AMS experiment, a $2 billion collaboration involving 16 countries. Despite challenges, including the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, Ting secured a dedicated Shuttle flight and launched AMS-02 to the International Space Station in 2011.

Born: January 27, 1936
Birthplace: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Age: 88 years old

Generation: Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Rat
Star Sign: Aquarius