Sarah Sheldon is an American engineering physicist who develops quantum computing devices for IBM Quantum, at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York.[1] She works for IBM as a principal research scientist and as senior manager of quantum theory and capabilities.[2]

Sheldon was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned a double bachelor's degree in physics and nuclear science and engineering. She continued at MIT for a 2013 Ph.D., also including research at the University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC).[1] Her research was supervised by David G. Cory, and she continued to work as a postdoctoral research with Cory at the IQC[3] before, seeking more practical applications for her expertise than she would find in an academic position, she joined IBM after completing her doctorate.[1]

Sheldon was named as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2025, after a nomination from the APS Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics, "for seminal contributions to the realization and application of practical quantum computing".[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sarah Sheldon: how a multidisciplinary mindset can turn quantum utility into quantum advantage", Physics World, February 12, 2025, retrieved 2025-12-23
  2. ^ "Sarah Sheldon keynote speaker biography", IEEE Quantum week, IEEE, 2023, retrieved 2025-12-23
  3. ^ Alumni, Institute for Quantum Computing, retrieved 2025-12-23
  4. ^ "Fellows nominated in 2025 by the Forum on Industrial & Applied Physics", APS Fellows archive, American Physical Society, retrieved 2025-12-23
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