Sherry Yennello
  • Distinguished Professor
  • Regents Professor in Chemistry
  • Cyclotron Institute Bright Chair in Nuclear Science
Research Areas
  • Nuclear
  • Physical

Research Interests

Research is centered around utilizing the newly available ability to produce beams of nuclei removed from the valley of stability to investigate nuclear reaction mechanisms. The experiments study the collisional dynamics of heavy-ion reactions and the thermodynamics of the resultant hot nuclear system.

Emission of fragments prior to equilibrium allows us to learn about cluster formation by studying the dynamics involved in the collision of two composite groups of nucleons. Projectile fragmentation reactions allow determination of the final state of the excited nuclear system thus enabling a reconstruction of the thermodynamics of fragmentation.

Much of our work is conducted at the Cyclotron Institute using the K500 superconducting cyclotron. Beams of radioactive ions can currently be separated in the recoil spectrometer, MARS. Complementary experiments with stable beams are also performed utilizing a 4-pi neutron detector for event characterization and selection.

A new forward array, FAUST, capable of measuring isotopically resolved fragments from projectile fragmentation reactions has recently been constructed (as shown in the photograph).

Educational Background

  • B. S., 1985, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Ph. D., 1990, Indiana University
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, 1991-92, Michigan State University

Awards & Honors

  • ACS Fellow
  • APS Fellow
  • AAAS Fellow
  • ACS Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal
  • Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching at both the university and college levels
  • Sigma Xi National Young Investigator Award
  • APS – DNP Outstanding Mentoring Award
  • NSF Young Investigator
  • Oak Ridge Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
  • General Electric Faculty for the Future Award
  • Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar
  • Texas A&M Women's Faculty Network Outstanding Mentor Award

Selected Publications

  • Laboratory Portrait: The Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University, Christian; Folden; Hardy; Lui; May; Melconian; Natowitz; Rapp; Rogachev; Tribble; Yennello, invited articleGNPN, Nuclear Physics News (2017)

  • Characterizing neutron-proton equilibration in nuclear reactions with sub-zeptosecond resolution, A. Jedele, A.B. McIntosh, K. Hagel, L. Heilborn, Z. Kohley, L.W. May, E. McCleskey, M.D. Youngs, A. Zarrella, S.J. Yennello, Phys. Rev. Lett, 118 062501 (2017)

  • Results of the ASY-EOS experiment at GSI: The Symmetry Energy at Suprasaturation Density, P. Russotto et al, Phys. Rev. C, 94, 034608 (2016).

  • Asymmetry Dependence of the Nuclear Caloric Curve, A. McIntosh , A. Bonasera, P. Cammarata, K. Hagel, L. Heilborn, Z. Kohley, J. Mabiala, L. May, P. Marini, A. Raphelt, G. Souliotis, S. Wuenschel, A. Zarrella, and S. Yennello,Phys. Lett. B. Vol. 719, Issues 4–5, 26, Pages 337–340 (2013)

  • Sensitivity of Intermediate Mass Fragment Flows to the Symmetry Energy, Z. Kohley, M. Colonna, A. Bonasera, L. May, S. Wuenschel, M. Di Toro, S. Galanopoulos, K. Hagel, M. Mehlman, W. Smith, G. Souliotis, S. Soisson, B. Stein, R. Tripathi, S. Yennello, and M. Zielinska-Pfabe, Phys. Rev. C 85, 064605 (2012).