Lou Bloomfield

Louis Aub Bloomfield (born October 11, 1956) is a physics professor at the University of Virginia. Bloomfield became a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1994 for his work on cluster magnetism and has received several other significant honors. Bloomfield is often referenced as a physics authority in major news publications.

Early life Bloomfield was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 11, 1956. He was most interested in medicine after graduating from Amherst, but his physics professors pressured him to apply to three prestigious physics programs in addition to taking the MCAT and applying to medical school at Johns Hopkins University. Bloomfield was accepted into all three physics programs and medical school, but decided to go into physics after asking himself whether he really wanted to be "cutting apart dead bodies in Baltimore."

Career Bloomfield began teaching physics at the University of Virginia in 1985. Bloomfield worked with UVA to create an instructional video on social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inventions Bloomfield has expertise in the field of borosilicate materials and has developed multiple products using this technology. Borosilicates are viscoelastic (a portmanteau of "viscous" and "elastic"), a property that is useful in multiple areas. These inventions include Vistik, a material designed for use in stabilizing wobbly tables, and EarJellies, which are earplugs made from a similar material.