World-Renowned Physicist Named LSU Boyd Professor

The LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Sept. 5 to designate six LSU faculty members as Boyd Professors. As the largest group of Boyd Professors ever named at one time, this cohort underscores LSU’s rising reputation for research excellence across all of its campuses. The Boyd Professorship, established by the LSU Board of Supervisors in 1953, is the most distinguished and highest professorial rank awarded by LSU.

2025 Boyd Professor Mette Gaarde, Les and Dot Broussard Alumni Professor of Physics, is an internationally recognized leader in the field of physics and chemistry. A former PhD student and postdoctoral researcher under 2023 Nobel Laureate Anne L’Huillier, Dr. Gaarde has built an exceptional career at LSU since 2003, earning early promotion to Associate Professor in 2007 and Professor in 2012. She was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2011 for her groundbreaking contributions to the macroscopic theory of high harmonic generation and attosecond light formation. 

Throughout her career, Gaarde has steadily shaped research that connects directly to Nobel Prize–winning discoveries. Her long-standing collaborations with 2023 Nobel Laureates Anne L’Huillier and Pierre Agostini began in the 1990s and continue to influence the field today. In 2023, she attended the Nobel Prize Ceremony as L’Huillier’s invited guest, an honor reflecting decades of shared scientific achievement and partnership.

This fall, LSU College of Science graduates will hear Prof. Gaarde deliver the 2025 Fall Commencement Address, sharing career insights and offering guidance to future scientists, drawing on extensive experience at the forefront of discovery.

“We are excited to have Dr. Gaarde join us this Thursday to celebrate our fall 2025 graduates as the College of Science commencement speaker,” said Interim Dean Robb Brumfield. “She is highly regarded as a mentor to both undergraduate and graduate students and is widely recognized for her significant research accomplishments. Her selection as an LSU Boyd Professor reflects the depth of her scholarly impact and her commitment to advancing research, education, and service.”

Gaarde’s prolific research record includes more than 150 publications, over 11,000 citations, and an h-index of 58, supported by significant external funding from the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, including an NSF CAREER Award. Gaarde also served as Chair of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics and contributed to the National Academy of Sciences’ Decadal Assessment on Atomic, Molecular and Optical Science, and is currently co-Chair of the Committee on AMO Sciences for the National Academy of Sciences.

Named in honor of brothers Thomas and David Boyd, early presidents and faculty members of LSU, the Boyd Professorship recognizes faculty who bring honor and prestige to LSU through their national and, as appropriate, international recognition for outstanding achievements. Before today, only 79 faculty members from all of LSU’s campuses have ever achieved this distinguished rank.

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Largest Cohort in LSU History: Six Distinguished Faculty Members Named Boyd Professors

Ultrashort laser pulses catch a snapshot of a "molecular handshake" 

Solvation-induced local structure in liquids probed by high-harmonic spectroscopy, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)