We Hear That

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College Park, Maryland, United States, October 29, 2009. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that the first AAPT J. D. Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Teaching Award winner is Eugene Commins, physics professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. This award is given in recognition of contributions to graduate physics teaching and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.

This prestigious award will be presented to Commins at a Ceremonial Session of the AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 15, 2010.

Warren Hein, AAPT Executive Officer noted, "It is a great honor to recognize an educator with such a distinguished career as the first recipient of the J. D. Jackson Award. Dr. Commins sets the standard for graduate physics around the world."

Commins earned his BA with Honors in Mathematics and Physics at Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Physics at Columbia University, New York, N.Y. He began his teaching career at Columbia University before moving to the University of California Berkeley in 1960.

Frances Hellman, Chair of the Department of Physics at University of California, Berkley said, "Eugene has been one of the pillars of the Berkeley Physics department for several decades. Over this period, he has taught and educated generations of physicists, many of whom have gone on to sterling careers in their own right: our current Energy Secretary, Nobel Laureate Steve Chu, is an outstanding example of a student who was taught and mentored by Eugene! But, by far, the biggest impact that Eugene has had is on the broad spectrum of graduate students from across the country and around the world."

Lila Adair, Awards Committee Chair, said that there were several reasons Commins was selected. "His nomination recognizes Eugene as a superb and dedicated teacher whose scientific brilliance is complemented by a great work ethic and dedication to the profession of teaching. His students are exuberant in their praise for his lectures, lecture notes, and concern for the students. He is an example of a great mentor. Many extremely distinguished scientists took classes from him, got their PhD's working with him, and speak passionately about him to their colleagues."

This award recognizes that great teaching CAN be done and should be expected of great scientists at leading institutions, not only from people whose primary or entire focus is on teaching.

Regarding his recognition as recipient of the First J.D. Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Teaching Award, Commins said, "I am very grateful and honored to receive the J.D. Jackson Award, all the more so because it bears the name of a most highly esteemed friend and colleague, J.D. Jackson. He is a truly distinguished scholar and teacher, and if his name were not on the award, he would be first on my list of those who deserve to receive it."

About the Award
Named in honor of outstanding physicist and teacher, J. D. Jackson, this award recognizes physicists and physics educators who, like John David Jackson, have made outstanding contributions to curriculum development, mentorship, or classroom teaching in graduate physics education.

About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.

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College Park, Maryland, United States, October 29, 2009. The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that The Melba Newell Phillips Medal has been awarded to Mary Beth Monroe, Professor of Physics at Southwest Texas Junior College, in recognition of her creative leadership and dedicated service that have resulted in exceptional contributions within AAPT.

The Medal will be presented to at a Ceremonial Session of the AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 15, 2010.

Lila Adair, Chairman, AAPT Awards Committee, said, "Mary Beth is an amazing lady. She has dedicated her entire career to sharing her passion for physics and AAPT with her students, colleagues and fellow AAPT members. She is one of the few experts I turn to for the institutional history of AAPT, and I am so proud to be presenting the Phillips Medal to her."

As a long time AAPT member, Monroe has quietly and tenaciously served the organization at the state and national level for more than three decades. She served as AAPT Secretary and Chair of the Publications Committee from 2001-2007 and is currently serving as a member of the Committee on the Interests of Senior Physicists and as Chair of the Governance Review Committee. She has played a leading role in developing networks among physicists teaching in Two Year Colleges that have led both to their increasing involvement in AAPT and to better teaching for the students who study physics in these schools

"The Melba Newell Phillips Medal is AAPT's highest recognition for member leadership and service. Mary Beth personifies these qualities through her continuing role as a leader in our organization and in the Two Year College community," stated Warren Hein, AAPT's Executive Officer.

Monroe received her B.S. degree in physics from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, and her M.S. in Physics (research field, plasma physics) with a double minor in Junior College Teaching (HEW intern) and Math, 1973. She is a dedicated proponent of quality physics education in Two Year and Community Colleges. She served on the AAPT Executive Board as Member-at-Large Representing Two Year Colleges and as a member of the Committee on Physics in the Two Year College. Additionally, she served as Principal Investigator and Project Director for TYC21 and as Co Principal Investigator for Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics at Two Year Colleges from 2002-2005.

Regarding the award, Monroe stated, "I was stunned when I received word from the AAPT Awards Committee that I had been selected to receive the esteemed Melba Newell Phillips Medal! Melba was responsible for me attending my first AAPT national meeting in 1977 and she used her influence to help place me on some AAPT committees in my first years with the Association. She impressed upon me that I had a responsibility not only to my students, but also beyond my classroom to the physics education community. The AAPT has provided me ample opportunities to fulfill both. Therefore this award, which embodies the ideals that Melba had for physics education and AAPT, has a special significance for me. I am honored and humbled by this recognition."

About the Award
The Melba Newell Phillips Medal honors Melba Phillips for her leadership and dedicated service to physics education. She was the first woman President of the AAPT and a founder of the Federation of American Scientists. Professor Phillips' research was in nuclear physics, and she served on the faculty of Brooklyn College and the University of Chicago. She was a champion of physics education throughout her life. This Award is given only occasionally to subsequent AAPT leaders who display similar achievements and exceptional contributions. The first recipient of the Award was Melba Phillips herself (Emeritus, University of Chicago), in January 1982.

The previous medal recipients include Clifford Swartz, Judy R. Franz, Robert B. Clark, H. Richard Crane, and E. Leonard Jossem. The complete list of winners can be found at http://www.aapt.org/Grants/phillips.cfm.

About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.

LIVERMORE, Ca — Penrose. C. "Parney" Albright, former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, has been named the Principal Associate Director of Global Security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Albright will join the Lab on Nov. 30, Director George Miller announced.

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, November 5, 2009—Antoinette "Toni" Taylor, Stephen Becker, Joachim Birn, Lowell Brown, Patrick Colestock, and Samuel "Tom" Picraux have been designated 2009 Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellows in recognition of sustained, outstanding scientific contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement.

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College Park, Maryland, November 2, 2009 -- During their fall meeting, members of the AAPT Executive Board developed and adopted an official statement endorsing research experiences for undergraduates.

Rationale:
Research in the real world involves the intense and often exhilarating experience of studying nature, learning some new things, and then bouncing that knowledge off fellow workers within your discipline to see if they agree. Richard Feynman likened this to cooperatively observing a chess game without knowing the rules - and gradually learning and celebrating a few of those beautiful rules and the evolving simplicity that should make up physics.

Whether in basic or applied sciences, every undergraduate physics major depends on such an experience to mature toward an investigative state-of-mind and self-confidence that will serve them well in their next professional endeavor. While often learning new experimental, theoretical, or analytical skills, they will also experience the very human frustrations, successes, serendipity, and late nights that can take science totally out of the classroom and into the fabric of their lives. Whether in a graduate school application or a job interview, they will have stories to tell about when they really helped figure something out.

Research experiences will necessarily take on different forms depending on the interests and goals of the student and on the resources and capabilities of their department and may begin early or late during the undergraduate years. Thus undergraduate research will not always involve sophisticated equipment or methodology, but it should be both meaningful and appropriate for the student and situation. On-campus faculty-mentored projects, participation in research at NSF-funded REU sites, research opportunities at national and corporate laboratories, and research opportunities provided through other federal agencies and private foundations should be strategically utilized to meet the needs of our students and departments.

About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.

SPS Outstanding Student Award recipients Josh Fuchs and Gabriel Caceres represented SPS and the U.S. at the 2009 International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), the annual conference of the International Association of Physics Students (IAPS). This year's conference was the 24th in a row and was held in Split, Croatia, August 10-18, 2009. It was organized entirely by the Student Section of the Croatian Physical Society. ICPS truly is a conference for physics students run by physics students.

Feature Articles: Josh Fuchs | Gabriel Caceres | ICPS Photos | SPS Program Info

The Board of QinetiQ Group plc announces that Graham Love, Chief Executive Officer, is, after eight years with the Group, standing down from the company with effect from 30 November 2009. Graham has been instrumental in transforming the company from a defence research organisation into an international provider of technology-based services and solutions, leading its expansion into the North American market and generating earnings per share growth averaging 16% per annum since privatisation. Graham will remain a consultant to the Group on the Defence Training Rationalisation (DTR) project.

Washington, DC, Oct. 26 &emdash; The Optical Society (OSA) announced today that it has added a Senior Member category to its membership offerings. Senior membership provides well-established individuals with the opportunity to request a designation that recognizes their experience and professional accomplishments or service within their field.

LIVERMORE, CA, October 29, 2009 — The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation announced today that Jay Davis, PhD, has been elected President of the Hertz Foundation. Dr. Davis, the Founding Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Founding Director of the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hertz Foundation. The Hertz Foundation, established in 1957, is one of the nation's leading non-profit organizations focused on empowering innovative young scientists and engineers.

October 30, 2009 — The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is awarding the 2010 Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics next month to Robert Street of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California. The prize is supported by General Motors.

Street's pioneering work at PARC in the early 1990s led to the development of flat-panel digital X-ray detectors, a commercially-available technology that has replaced traditional film X-ray machines for many medical applications.

BETHESDA, Md. — USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) today announced Gerald Prudom has been appointed project technical director of the American Centrifuge program reporting directly to Paul Sullivan, vice president for American Centrifuge and chief engineer. In this position, Prudom will coordinate all technical aspects of the project.

The 2009 Australian Prime Minister's Prize for Science has been awarded to astronomer/engineer Dr. John O'Sullivan.

The award and $300,000 grant recognizes Dr. O'Sullivan's contributions to astronomy and to the invention which made wireless computing fast and reliable.

Suzanne A. Herron has been appointed deputy project director for the U.S. ITER Project, which is based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. According to today's announcement, she will share the leadership responsibilities with Ned Sauthoff, who is directing the U.S. involvement in the international fusion energy project.

(PhysOrg.com) — MIT physicist Pablo Jarillo-Herrero has won a 2009 David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, an award he will use to study a new class of materials that could have applications in the semiconductor industry and quantum computing.

Gerald Epstein has been appointed the new director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's center for science, technology & security policy. Norman P. Neureiter, the former director, will become a senior advisor at the center.

"We're delighted to have been able to recruit Gerald Epstein, a great expert in both nuclear and biological security issues, to AAAS," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive publisher of Science.

"I'm thrilled at being able to join the center," Epstein said, "and I look forward to working with its first-rate staff to ensure that security policy is made with the best scientific and technical input. I'm also grateful that Norman Neureiter, who built the Center, has agreed to stay on as senior adviser. I will work to continue the Center*s established
record of connecting scientists and government."

From 2003 through 2009, Epstein was a senior fellow for science and security in the CSIS Homeland Security Program, where he worked on issues including reducing biological weapons threats, improving national preparedness to respond to biological attack, and ameliorating potential tensions between the scientific research and national security communities.

He also taught a course on "Science, Technology, and Homeland Security" as an Adjunct Professor with the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

He came to CSIS from the Institute for Defense Analyses, where he had been assigned to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

From 1996 to 2001, he worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), serving for the last year in a joint appointment as Assistant Director of OSTP for National Security and Senior Director for Science and Technology on the National Security Council staff.

His responsibilities at OSTP included technologies to counter terrorism and to protect the nation's critical infrastructures; chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation and arms control; missile defense; strategic arms control; the nuclear weapon stockpile stewardship program; export controls; and national security/emergency preparedness telecommunications.

From 1983 to 1989 and again from 1991 until its demise in 1995, he worked at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, where he directed a study on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and worked on other international security topics.

From 1989 to 1991, he directed a project at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government on the relationship between civil and military technologies, and he is a co-author of Beyond Spinoff: Military and Commercial Technologies in a Changing World (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1992). He has also served as visiting lecturer in public and international affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.

Epstein is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the editorial board for the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, a member of the Biological Threats Panel of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on International Security and Arms Control, and a member of the National Academies' Committee on Science, Security, and Prosperity.

He serves on the Biological Sciences Experts Group for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

He received SB degrees in physics and in electrical engineering from MIT and a PhD in physics from the University of California at Berkeley.