Eric Allin Cornell (born December 19, 1961) is a physicist who, along with Carl E. Wieman, was able to synthesize Bose-Einstein condensate in 1995. For their efforts, Cornell, Weiman, and Wolfgang Ketterle shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.
Cornell was born in Palo Alto, California and is a distinguished Lowell High School alumni. He is currently a professor at the University of Colorado and a physicist at the United States Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In October 2004, his left arm and shoulder were amputated in an attempt to stop the spread of necrotizing fasciitis; he was discharged from hospital in mid-December, having recovered from the infection.
