Newsmaker: Xiaopeng Li

Noteworthy: Xiaopeng Li was the first University of Pittsburgh student to be selected as a Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics graduate fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, according to Pitt. Li spent six months researching condensed matter physics, a branch of physics that focuses on the physical properties of matter.

Age: 26

Residence: Oakland

Family: Wife, Ranlan Lin, and son, Leon Li, 9 months.

Occupation: Graduate research assistant at Pitt.

Background: Li participated in the A.W. Mellon Fellowship program from 2011 to 2013. He is a member of the American Physical Society, which is based in College Park, Md. In his spare time, he plays basketball, meditates and listens to music.

Education: Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2008; master's degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009; will receive a doctorate in physics from Pitt this year.

Quote: “My curiosity to learn the nature of the world around us,” explaining why he pursued a career in physics.