Akerib graduated in 1984 with an A.B. from the
University of Chicago and in 1990 with a Ph.D. in physics from
Princeton University.[2]A search for the rare decay
K+ →
π+ νν is the title of his Ph.D. thesis (which finds experimental limits for a particular type of rare decay involving
kaons).[3][4] As a postdoc he did research from 1990 to 1992 at
California Institute of Technology and from 1993 to 1996 at
UC Berkeley's Center for Particle Astrophysics[2] (which was started in 1989 with funding from the
National Science Foundation).[5] In the physics department of
Case Western Reserve University, he was from 1995 to 2001 an assistant professor, from 2001 to 2004 an associate professor, and from 2004 to 2014 a full professor. He also chaired the department from 2007 to 2010.[2] Akerib has been a professor of particle physics and astrophysics at
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory since 2014, with a courtesy full-time professorship in
Stanford University's physics department.[2]
Akerib was involved for about two years (from 2019 to 2020) in the
CMB-Stage 4 (CMB-S4) experiment to detect
primordial gravitational waves and to gather data about the
early universe[6] but is no longer involved.
At Case Western Reserve University from 2008 to 2014, he worked with Thomas A. Shutt on the
Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment to detect dark matter particles. In 2014 both were appointed to professorships at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University.[7] The two became the leaders of the SLAC establishment of a Liquid Nobles Test Platform.[2][8] Their group "specializes in detector development, xenon purification, and simulations".[2]
Akerib's 2008 APS fellowship citation is for "significant contributions to direct Dark Matter detection experiments, in particular for his work on the
CDMS experiment."[1]
"The Case for Dark Matter: Do WIMPS Rule". YouTube. Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). April 12, 2013; Speakers: Dan Akerib & Tom Shutt, March 27, 2013, CWRU campus{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (
link)