Irina Mazilu to Deliver Endowed Professorship Lecture Mazilu’s talk “A Physics Journey from Complex Systems to Simple Models” will be held in Northen Auditorium on Jan. 25.

By Brian Laubscher
January 10, 2023

Irina Mazilu, professor of physics, will present a public lecture to mark her appointment to the Ruth Parmly Professorship at Washington and Lee University.

Titled “A Physics Journey from Complex Systems to Simple Models,” Mazilu’s talk is free and will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium.

“In this talk I will explore simple stochastic models at the confluence of nanophysics, biology, mathematics and the social sciences,” said Mazilu. “I will use the self-assembly of nanoparticles, the traffic of molecular motors and voter patterns as examples of complex systems that can be modeled using the methods of non-equilibrium statistical physics. I will discuss these complex systems in terms of the basic dynamics of their constituents and interaction rules. These interactions lead to interesting, and sometimes unexpected, emergent behaviors of the original systems.”

Mazilu co-authored the book “From Complex to Simple: Interdisciplinary Stochastic Models,” and has published a number of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings, many with W&L students as co-authors. She is also a frequent presenter at various conferences.

Mazilu first arrived at W&L as a visiting assistant professor in 2002. She accepted a position at Hanover College for the following academic school year, but returned to W&L in 2004. Currently, she serves as chair of the physics and engineering department. Mazilu holds a B.S. in physics from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Virginia Tech.

The Ruth Parmly Professorship was established in 1986 in honor of Parmly and the gift she made in her estate to W&L. Other gifts in her lifetime supported the construction of the Leyburn Library and Charles Howard Parmly Hall. The latter building — which houses the biology, physics and engineering departments — was named in honor and memory of her father.