Dr. Douglas D. Osheroff, an American physicist whose groundbreaking work in low-temperature physics led to the discovery of superfluidity in helium-3, was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside David M. Lee and Robert C. Richardson. His research, which helped illuminate quantum mechanical behavior at near-absolute-zero temperatures, remains foundational in condensed matter physics.

Dr. Osheroff earned his bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1967, where he was influenced by physicist Richard Feynman and conducted undergraduate research under the astronomer Gerry Neugebauer. He then pursued graduate studies at Cornell University, joining the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics. It was there, working with Dr. Lee and Dr. Richardson, that he helped uncover a phase transition in helium-3—an unexpected finding that revealed a new state of matter, superfluidity, at temperatures mere thousandths of a degree above absolute zero.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1973, Dr. Osheroff spent 15 years at Bell Labs in New Jersey before joining Stanford University in 1987 as a professor of physics and applied physics. He chaired the department from 1993 to 1996 and continued research into low-temperature phenomena.

Beyond the lab, Dr. Osheroff played a role in public service, serving on the Columbia Space Shuttle investigation panel in 2003, a position reminiscent of Richard Feynman’s role in the Challenger disaster inquiry. He was also a board member of Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization advocating for science-based policy.

An avid photographer, Dr. Osheroff introduced Stanford freshmen to medium-format film photography through a seminar titled Technical Aspects of Photography. He also frequently taught undergraduate physics courses, including electricity and magnetism.

Dr. Osheroff received the STEM Hero award at the 2012 VEX Robotics World Championship.