Lene Hau named World Dane 2010

Lene Vestergaard Hau, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics in the Department of Physics and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard, was named “World Dane 2010” by global network Danes Worldwide at the organization’s annual summer meeting, held at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark, on Aug. 1, 2010.

The honor is awarded to a Dane who has made a special contribution to placing Denmark on the world map. According to Danes Worldwide, Lene Hau was awarded the prize “for emphatically and persistently placing Denmark on the World map.”

It is only the third time that the prize has been awarded. The two prior honorees are soccer icon Michael Laudrup and Grammy-winning pianist and composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre.