ORANGE, Calif., Sept. 21, 2009 -- Yakir Aharonov, professor of theoretical physics and 1998 Wolf Prize winner for his co-discovery of the Aharonov-Bohm Effect, one of the cornerstones of modern physics, has received a new title: he is now Chapman’s James J. Farley Professor of Natural Philosophy.

The James J. Farley Professorship in Natural Philosophy pays tribute to a longtime member of the Chapman family who served the campus as vice president of development until becoming the executive director of the Waltmar Foundation. James Farley never completely retired, and before his death he was honored at Chapman with both the C.C. Chapman Award and the James J. Farley Professorship in Economics.

The title “Professor of Natural Philosophy” has a prestigious history. It has been held by such luminaries in science as Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Kelvin and Stephen Hawking and Dr. Paul Davies, Chapman University’s commencement speaker this past May.

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