The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Crafoord Prize in Mathematics and Astronomy 2008 with one half (mathematics) jointly to Maxim Kontsevich, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS), Bures-sur-Yvette, France, and Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, USA, “for their important contributions to mathematics inspired by modern theoretical physics", and the other half (astronomy) to Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia and Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany, “for his decisive contributions to high-energy astrophysics and cosmology, in particular processes and dynamics around black holes and neutron stars and demonstration of the diagnostic power of structures in the background radiation".
Cross-disciplinary mathematics and the extreme Universe
This year´s Crafoord Prize combines abstract mathematics and astrophysics. It is being awarded for mathematical discoveries that are significant for the fundamental laws of nature and for research on black holes and the early Universe.
Mathematics
The laureates in mathematics, the mathematician Maxim Kontsevich and the theoretical physicist Edward Witten, have used the methodology of physics to develop a revolutionary new mathematics intended for the study of various types of geometrical objects. Their work is not only of great interest in the discipline of mathematics but may also find applications in totally different areas. Its results are of considerable value for physics and research into the fundamental laws of nature. According to string theory, which is an ambitious attempt to formulate a theory for all the natural forces, the smallest particles of which the Universe is composed are vibrating strings. This theory predicts the existence of additional dimensions and requires very advanced mathematics. The laureates have resolved several important mathematical problems related to string theory and have in this way paved the way for its further development.
Astronomy
The laureate in astronomy, Rashid Sunyaev, has studied the most extreme processes in the Universe and developed theoretical models of how black holes devour matter and the origin of the structure of the cosmological background radiation. His description of how matter drawn towards a black hole forms a thin, rapidly rotating disc is essential if we are to understand how black holes can be the most powerful sources of radiation in the Universe. Sunyaev´s work with the cosmological background radiation has inspired measurements that provide clues to the creation and structure of the Universe. This radiation derives from a period when the Universe was only a few hundred thousand years old and contains information about what happened during Big Bang. On its journey to us it has also been influenced by the distribution of matter in clusters of galaxies billions of years later.
Maxim Kontsevich, Russian and French citizen. Born 1964 in Khimki, Russia. Ph.D. in mathematics 1992 at University of Bonn, Germany. Professor at Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS), Bures-sur-Yvette, France.
www.ihes.fr/IHES-A/People/pers-scienA.html
Edward Witten, American citizen. Born 1951 in Baltimore, MD, USA. Ph.D. in physics 1976 at Princeton University, NJ, USA. Charles Simonyi Professor at School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, USA.
www.sns.ias.edu/~witten
Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, Russian citizen. Born 1943 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Ph.D. in astrophysics 1968 at Moscow University, Russia. Head of the Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Space Research Institute (IKI), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Director of Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany.
http://hea.iki.rssi.ru, www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~sunyaev
Prize amount:
USD 500,000. Kontsevich and Witten are awarded one half and Sunyaev the other half.
Contact persons:
Erik Huss, Press Officer, Tel. +46-8-6739544, +46-70-6739650, erik.huss@kva.se
Jan-Erik Roos, Prof. of Mathematics, Stockholm Univ., Tel. +46-8-164531, jeroos@math.su.se
Torsten Ekedahl, Prof. of Mathematics, Stockholm Univ., Tel. +46-8-164526, teke@math.su.se
Arne Ardeberg, Prof. of Astronomy, Lund Univ. Tel. +46-46-2227290, +46-70-3697005,
arne@astro.lu.se
Claes Fransson, Prof. of Astrophysics, Stockholm Univ., Tel. +46-8-55378517, +46-70-3654595, claes@astro.su.se
This prize-awarding ceremony will take place at the Academy in Stockholm on 23 April 2008 in the presence of H.M. the King. For more information regarding symposia during the 2008 Crafoord Days see the menu Events.
William Madia, a former director of two national laboratories and senior executive overseeing research laboratories for Battelle, has been appointed to the position of vice president for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), President John Hennessy announced today.
The vice presidency is a new position created to provide direct linkage between the university and the laboratory, enhance collaboration and ensure coordination between the laboratory, Stanford and the Department of Energy (DOE).
SLAC is a national science laboratory managed and operated by Stanford University on behalf of the DOE. Madia will report to Hennessy and will chair the SLAC Board of Overseers, a group composed of senior Stanford University officials and knowledgeable external laboratory managers.
"Bill Madia's knowledge and experience in this area is without parallel," Hennessy said. "He brings tremendous insight about the importance of research at national laboratories as well as real-world expertise in managing the work. He is a perfect fit for this new position, which will build the working relationship between the university and SLAC and ensure continued collaboration with DOE. Working hand-in-hand with SLAC Director Persis Drell, we expect SLAC to build on its history of scientific innovation and accomplishment that serves the nation's research agenda."
Working closely with Drell, Madia will provide university oversight and support to SLAC, helping to ensure that laboratory management is conducting its work and operations as promised.
"As we move SLAC forward into a new era of scientific discovery and ever closer ties to the main campus, I am delighted we will have the benefit of Bill's experience and wise counsel," Drell said. "I've benefited from Bill's advice ever since I started as acting director and I am thrilled to have him here at Stanford."
Madia has extensive experience in managing organizations that contract with the DOE, including nine years as the executive vice president for laboratory operations at Battelle, an international science and technology firm that develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for both industrial and government clients. In that position, Madia provided management oversight for all six national laboratories managed or co-managed by Battelle for the DOE and one Department of Homeland Security laboratory. He recently retired from Battelle after a career spanning 33 years.
In addition to numerous positions at Battelle, Madia is the former director of two national laboratories: Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Among his many awards, Madia received the Secretary of Energy's Gold Award, honoring him for his achievements, contributions and service to the department. He also was named Laboratory Director of the Year by the Federal Laboratory Consortium and was awarded the Sigma Xi Research Award in Chemistry.
Madia earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University and a doctorate in chemistry from Virginia Tech.
He assumed the new vice president's position Jan. 3.
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has selected Stanley Hart of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as the 13th recipient of the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship. Hart, a scientist emeritus in the WHOI Department of Geology and Geophysics, was recognized for making lasting contributions to the study of the physics of the Earth. The $20,000 prize will be awarded on April 27, 2008, at the annual meeting of the Academy in Washington, D.C.
As an isotope geochemist, Hart studies the evolution and dynamics of Earth's mantle using trace elements and isotopes found in rocks. He also examines the chemistry of seawater and ocean crust, and how both are changed by their interactions with the other.
Hart was cited by his peers in the Academy for "development of the new field of ‘chemical geodynamics’ through the use of the chemical and isotopic signature of mantle derived samples to map and constrain the dynamical evolution of the Earth's interior."
“Stan Hart has had an enormous impact on his field, and he continues to play an important role in Earth science,” said James Luyten, president and director of WHOI. “The Institution has been honored to have Stan as an active member of the scientific staff.”
Much of Hart’s work could be described as a quest to “understand the mantle zoo.” Hart and colleagues have identified many different reservoirs of mantle rock by studying volcanism at great depths below Earth’s surface. They have given names to those geochemical “species” and defined their heritage and pedigree among the rocks formed on the planet. By doing so, Hart has helped unravel some of the history of how the interior of the Earth has evolved over time.
“I keep thinking that we are going to solve the problem of how Earth’s mantle has evolved, and I once predicted that the scientific community might do it within five years. That was fifteen years ago,” Hart recalled with a mix of humility and humor. “The job may never be complete, but we have made some real progress. And I couldn’t have done any of this without my students and post-docs.”
Born in Lynn, Mass., Hart studied for his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), punctuated by a master’s degree at the California Institute of Technology.
He started his research career at the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 1960 to 1975, with a brief visiting professorship at the University of California, San Diego. In 1975, he returned to MIT, where he became a professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. He came to Woods Hole in 1989, where he was a senior scientist in the WHOI Department of Geology and Geophysics from 1989 to 2007.
In nearly five decades of scientific work, Hart has authored or co-authored 225 papers. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society, and the European Association of Geochemistry, as well as an honorary fellow of the European Union of Geosciences. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1983 and to fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005.
In 1992, Hart was awarded the Goldschmidt Medal of the Geochemical Society, of which he also served as president. In 1997, he was awarded the H. H. Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Paris in 2005. At WHOI, he held the Columbus O'Donnell Iselin Chair for Excellence in Oceanography from 1994 to1999.
In his early years, Hart was an avid skier and rock climber; now he is a devoted runner. He has three children and two grandchildren, and he currently lives in Falmouth, Mass., with his wife Pam.
First awarded in 1972 through a bequest by geophysicist Arthur L. Day, the Day Prize includes a cash award and an invitation to provide four to six lectures that “would prove a solid, timely, and useful addition to the knowledge and literature in the field.” Granted every three years, the prize recognizes research in geology, oceanography, hydrology, geochemistry, meteorology, petrology, forestry, and atmospherics.
“Some of the previous awardees of the Day Prize were my heroes,” Hart said, “so this is quite a nice validation that what I’ve been working on has been acknowledged and respected by the community.”
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Since 1863, the National Academy of Sciences has served to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment.
Foundation to administer scholarship program
The Optical Society of America (OSA) Foundation is pleased to honor the work of Harvey Pollicove by supporting the Harvey M. Pollicove Memorial Scholarship, awarded to a student who is pursuing a degree in the field of precision optics manufacturing. The first scholarship will be given this fall.
The H.M. Pollicove Memorial Fund was originally established in 2005 through contributions from Harvey Pollicove’s friends and colleagues to recognize his work in the field of precision optics manufacturing. Pollicove began his career in 1964 as a lens grinder at Eastman Kodak Company. Throughout his working life he remained in manufacturing, eventually leading the team that created the first high-volume manufacturing processes for both plastic and glass molded aspheric optics. He went on to become co-founder and director of the Center for Optics Manufacturing (COM) at the University of Rochester. The center researchers design methods to produce lenses and other optical components that are traditionally difficult or impossible to create. He was also a two-time recipient of the Department of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award and a co-recipient of the R&D 100 Award. On the occasion of his 40th anniversary in the optics industry, he was honored with the Photonics Spectra Distinction in Photonics Award.
“Precision manufacturing is a critical piece of the optics industry, and we want to encourage students to pursue this field,” said Gary Bjorklund, OSA Foundation chair. “This scholarship helps to raise visibility of an important segment of our industry, provides needed support for students and honors the great work of Harvey Pollicove. The Foundation is proud to support this program, and we look forward to issuing the first award this year.”
To learn more about the Pollicove Scholarship Program and application requirements, or to contribute toward its endowment, please contact foundation@osa.org.
About the OSA Foundation
The OSA Foundation was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the Optical Society of America’s mission by concentrating its efforts on programs that advance youth science education, provide optics education and resources to underserved populations, provide career and professional development resources and support OSA's Awards and Honors program. The grants funded by the OSA Foundation are made possible by the generous donations of its supporters as well as the dollar-for-dollar match by OSA. The Foundation is exempt from US federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is a public charity. To learn more about the OSA Foundation or to find out how to donate, please visit www.osa-foundation.org or email foundation@osa.org.
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society of America (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 – Research and subsequent technological advances in coherent optical communication are undergoing a revival, providing new technology platforms for long-distance spectrally-efficient optical transport. An increased number of recent breakthroughs, including real-time measurements of a 40 Gb/s coherent system, digital implementation of fiber impairment compensation, and demonstrations of advanced modulation formats, led the editors of Optics Express to devote the Jan. 21 issue to this field. These breakthroughs at the physical layer will bring about increased speed and connectivity for Internet users in the near future. According to the issue’s editor, Professor Guifang Li of CREOL at the University of Central Florida, “It’s an exciting time for the field of optical communications and coherent optical communication is a very vibrant and rapidly progressing field.”
Summary
This Optics Express focus issue features research by veterans who worked in coherent communication in the 1980s, as well as researchers who entered the field recently. The slowing of coherent optical communication in the 1990s can be attributed to the impracticality of phase and polarization management, implemented in the optical domain using optical phase-locked loops and optical polarization controllers in the 1980s, which are required in a coherent receiver. However, advances in integrated circuits and digital signal processing (DSP) technologies have brought coherent optical communication to the forefront again. These recent advances mirror advances in RF/wireless communications, but DSP-enabled coherent optical communication is advancing at a more rapid pace and offers new possibilities such as fiber nonlinearity compensation.
Key Findings & Selected Papers
The following papers are some of the highlights of the Optics Express focus issue on coherent communication. All are included in volume 16, issue 2, and can be accessed online at www.OpticsExpress.org.
• A team from Nortel Networks in Ottawa, Canada demonstrates continuous real-time measurements from a coherent 40 Gb/s transmission system that uses Dual-Polarization Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DP-QPSK) modulation.
“Real-time measurements of a 40 Gb/s coherent system.” Han Sun, Kuang-Tsan Wu, and Kim Roberts, Nortel Networks. pp. 873-879.
• Research from the University of Central Florida outlines a universal post-compensation scheme for fiber impairments in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems based on coherent detection and digital signal processing.
“Electronic post-compensation of WDM transmission impairments using coherent detection and digital signal processing.” Xiaoxu Li, Xin Chen, Gilad Goldfarb, Eduardo Mateo, Inwoong Kim, Fatih Yaman, Guifang Li, CREOL, The College of Optics & Photonics, University of Central Florida. pp. 880-888.
• Researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University describe 1 Gsymbol/s, 64 and 128 coherent quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmissions over 150 km, in which they employ a frequency-stabilized C2H2 fiber laser, an optical phase-looked loop (OPLL), and a heterodyne detection circuit.
“64 and 128 coherent QAM optical transmission over 150 km using frequency-stabilized laser and heterodyne PLL detection.” Masato Yoshida, Hiroki Goto, Keisuke Kasai, and Masataka Nakazawa, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. pp. 829-840.
About Optics Express
Optics Express, the leading optics journal, reports on new developments in all fields of optical science and technology every two weeks. The journal provides rapid publication of original, peer-reviewed papers. It is published by the Optical Society of America and edited by Martijn de Sterke of the University of Sydney. Optics Express is an open-access journal and is available at no cost to readers online at www.OpticsExpress.org.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For details on any of these papers or to schedule interviews with the lead authors, please contact OSA's Angela Stark, 202.416.1443, astark@osa.org.
Nobel laureate Peter C. Agre, a chemist and Vice Chancellor for Science and Technology at Duke University School of Medicine, has been chosen to serve as president-elect of AAAS beginning 19 February, at the close of the 2008 Annual Meeting in Boston. Agre would assume the presidency of AAAS in February 2009.
Agre shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of aquaporins, the key proteins that transport water across cell membranes. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, chair of the NAS Committee on Human Rights and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
On 19 February, the current president-elect, James J. McCarthy, will begin a one-year term as AAAS president. McCarthy is the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University. The current president, David Baltimore, will begin a one-year term as chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors at the close of the Annual Meeting. Baltimore is the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology and head of the Baltimore Lab at the California Institute of Technology
Here are the full election results, with all terms starting at the end of the year's Annual Meeting in February:
General Offices
President-Elect: Peter C. Agre
Board of Directors: Nancy Knowlton, Thomas A. Woolsey
Committee on Nominations: Diana Hicks, Karen A. Holbrook, Peter H. Raven, Lydia Villa-Komaroff
Section on Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources
Chair-Elect: Daniel Bush
Member-at-Large: Sally Mackenzie
Electorate Nominating Committee: Pamela J. Green, Charles W. Rice
Section on Anthropology
Chair-Elect: Michael A. Little
Member-at-Large: Dennis H. O'Rourke
Electorate Nominating Committee: William R. Leonard, Karen R. Rosenberg
Section on Astronomy
Chair-Elect: Steven V. W. Beckwith
Member-at-Large: Nancy D. Morrison
Electorate Nominating Committee: Lynn R. Cominsky, William S. Smith, Jr.
Section on Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences
Chair-Elect: Margaret Leinen
Member-at-Large: Eugenia Kalnay
Electorate Nominating Committee: Syukuro Manabe, Terry Whitledge
Council Delegate: Claire L. Parkinson
Section on Biological Sciences
Chair-Elect: Barbara L. Illman
Member-at-Large: Diana G. Myles
Electorate Nominating Committee: Michael W. Nachman, Baldomero "Toto" Olivera
Section on Chemistry
Chair-Elect: Geraldine Richmond
Member-at-Large: Peter B. Armentrout
Electorate Nominating Committee: Alison Butler, Mark A. Ratner
Section on Dentistry and Oral Health Sciences
Chair-Elect: Huw F. Thomas
Member-at-Large: Susan W. Herring
Electorate Nominating Committee: Mark W. Lingen, Janet Moradian-Oldak
Council Delegate: Jacques E. Nör
Section on Education
Chair-Elect: Judith A. Dilts
Member-at-Large: Robert Tinker
Electorate Nominating Committee: Judy Diamond, Susan H. Hixson
Council Delegate: Rodger W. Bybee
Section on Engineering
Chair-Elect: Robert M. Nerem
Member-at-Large: Cristina H. Amon
Electorate Nominating Committee: Kristi S. Anseth, Cindy Atman
Section on General Interest in Science and Engineering
Chair-Elect: Charles N. Haas
Member-at-Large: Erika C. Shugart
Electorate Nominating Committee: Joann Ellison Rodgers, John L. Safko, Sr.
Council Delegate: Julie Ann Miller
Section on Geology and Geography
Chair-Elect: Susan Trumbore
Member-at-Large: Jill S. Baron
Electorate Nominating Committee: Kam-biu Liu, Ellen Mosley-Thompson
Section on History and Philosophy of Science
Chair-Elect: Alan J. Rocke
Member-at-Large: Paul Lawrence Farber
Electorate Nominating Committee: Rachelle D. Hollander, Phillip R. Sloan
Section on Industrial Science and Technology
Chair-Elect: S. Tom Picraux
Member-at-Large: Ray H. Baughman
Electorate Nominating Committee: Tingye Li, Robert W. Sprague
Section on Information, Computing, and Communication
Chair-Elect: Edward D. Lazowska
Member-at-Large: Benjamin Kuipers
Electorate Nominating Committee: James D. Foley, Clifford A. Lynch
Council Delegate: Lewis M. Branscomb
Section on Linguistics and Language Science
Chair-Elect: Annie Zaenen
Member-at-Large: Mark Aronoff
Electorate Nominating Committee: Joan Maling, Sally McConnell-Ginet
Council Delegate: Keren Rice
Section on Mathematics
Chair-Elect: Keith Devlin
Member-at-Large: Warren Page
Electorate Nominating Committee: Harold P. Boas, Deborah F. Lockhart
Section on Medical Sciences
Chair-Elect: Christine A. Biron
Member-at-Large: R. Arlene H. Sharpe
Electorate Nominating Committee: Harry B. Greenberg, Margaret K. Hostetter
Section on Neuroscience
Chair-Elect: Mahlon R. DeLong
Member-at-Large: Hollis T. Cline
Electorate Nominating Committee: Rosemarie Booze, Charles D. Gilbert
Section on Pharmaceutical Sciences
Chair-Elect: William E. Evans
Member-at-Large: C. Anthony Hunt
Electorate Nominating Committee: F. Douglas Boudinot, Günter Hochhaus
Council Delegate: Patrick J. Sinko
Section on Physics
Chair-Elect: Bill R. Appleton
Member-at-Large: Gene D. Sprouse
Electorate Nominating Committee: Robert P. Redwine, Antoinette (Toni) Taylor
Section on Psychology
Chair-Elect: Edward Taub
Member-at-Large: Susan Goldin-Meadow
Electorate Nominating Committee: Jeffrey R. Alberts, Jeri S. Janowsky
Section on Social, Economic, and Political Sciences
Chair-Elect: Karen S. Cook
Member-at-Large: Judith M. Tanur
Electorate Nominating Committee: Henry E. Brady, Nancy M. Gordon
Section on Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering
Chair-Elect: Dan Kammen
Member-at-Large: Kerri-Ann Jones
Electorate Nominating Committee: Thomas Dietz, Michele Garfinkel
Council Delegate: Robert Cook-Deegan
Section on Statistics
Chair-Elect: W. Michael O'Fallon
Member-at-Large: Randall K. Spoeri
Electorate Nominating Committee: Joseph L. Gastwirth, Fritz Scheuren
Council Delegate: David L. DeMets
WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences has selected Norman P. Neureiter to receive its most prestigious award, the Public Welfare Medal. Established in 1914, the medal is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for public good. The Academy chose Neureiter for enhancing the status of science and technology in the U.S. State Department as the first science and technology adviser to the secretary of state and for spurring international cooperation in science and technology under U.S. leadership.
"Dr. Neureiter's wise counsel on international science and technology issues is rivaled by few," said Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences. "Today we honor him for successfully integrating science and technology into U.S. foreign policy."
Neureiter has long sought to integrate science into the development of national and international public policy, a key goal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Center for Science, Technology, and Security Policy, which Neureiter has directed since its inception in 2004. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the center serves as a two-way information portal between academics and the Washington policy community.
Well known as a leader in science and diplomacy, Neureiter was selected in September 2000 to serve a three-year term as the first science and technology adviser to the secretary of state, first under Madeline Albright, then Colin Powell. As the principal liaison with the national and international science communities, he successfully led a fivefold increase in the number of science and diplomacy fellows in the State Department, and increased the dialogue between the diplomatic and academic science communities, along with building new international partnerships. With India, for example, he implemented the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum to promote bilateral science and technology cooperation between the U.S. and India, and continues to serve as the U.S. co-chair of this organization.
The position of science and technology adviser was created based on recommendations from a National Research Council report, THE PERVASIVE ROLE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HEALTH IN FOREIGN POLICY: IMPERATIVES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. The report urged the secretary of state to appoint a highly qualified senior adviser for science, technology, and health who could provide advice to the Department of State on the technical dimensions of current and emerging foreign policy issues drawing in the resources of the American scientific communities, as needed.
A Distinguished Presidential Fellow for International Affairs at the National Academies, Neureiter served on numerous Academies' boards and committees, including the International Advisory Board, the Space Studies Board, the Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security, and the Committee on Policy Implications of International Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in the United States. Most recently, Neureiter was a part of a U.S. National Academies' delegation that traveled to Iran in October 2007 to expand a program of scientific cooperation with Iranian researchers and education centers.
Neureiter began his career in 1957 at Humble Oil and Refining as a research chemist while also teaching German and Russian at the University of Houston. On a four-month leave from his laboratory in 1959, he served as a guide in Moscow at the U.S. National Exhibition -- one of the United States first engagement initiatives with the Soviet Union. Fluent in seven languages, Neureiter became a part-time escort interpreter for the U.S. Department of State, working with the first Soviet petroleum delegation to the U.S. as well as informal U.S.-Soviet nuclear test-ban treaty discussions in the early 1960s.
With a desire to combine his science background with his interest in languages and global affairs, Neureiter joined the International Affairs Office of the National Science Foundation. There he became the first permanent program director of the U.S–Japan Cooperative Science Program created by President Kennedy to address the "broken dialogue" between the intellectual and scientific communities of the two countries through cooperation in science.
Transitioning from a research-based focus to the field of international scientific and technical affairs, Neureiter became a Foreign Service reserve officer and went to Germany as a deputy scientific attache’ at the U.S. embassy. He later became the first U.S. scientific attache’ in Eastern Europe, based in Warsaw from 1967-69 with responsibility for Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, where he witnessed the impact of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and the stormy student protests in Poland.
From 1969 to 1973, as assistant to President Nixon’s science advisers Lee DuBridge and Ed David, he was responsible for international affairs in the White House Office of Science and Technology. There he led the establishment of the first cooperative science agreement with the U.S.S.R. that was signed at the Nixon-Brezhnev summit in 1972, and prepared scientific initiatives for use in the discussions that led to the Nixon-Kissinger diplomatic breakthrough with China that same year.
In 1973, Neureiter joined Texas Instruments (TI), where he held a number of positions during his 23-year tenure dealing with corporate external relations, European marketing, and international business development, retiring in 1996 as vice president, TI Asia.
Born in Illinois, Neureiter grew up near Rochester, N.Y. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Rochester and a doctorate in organic chemistry from Northwestern University. He spent a year at the University of Munich as a Fulbright Fellow in the Institute of Organic Chemistry.
"Neureiter has dedicated much of his life to building peaceful and constructive relations between the U.S. and other countries and, particularly, in using science and technology cooperation as an effective instrument for developing those relationships," said John Brauman, home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the Public Welfare Medal selection committee.
The Public Welfare Medal, consisting of a medal and an illuminated scroll, will be presented to Neureiter on April 27 during the Academy's 145th annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Previous recipients of the medal include William T. Golden, Maxine F. Singer, Norman R. Augustine, and Carl Sagan.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 – The Optical Society of America (OSA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that they have elevated 54 members to the rank of fellow. These members will be recognized individually at meetings throughout 2008. A listing of all 54 fellows appears below.
Any regular OSA member who has served with distinction in the advancement of optics is eligible for transfer to the class of fellow. OSA’s Fellows & Honorary Members Committee recommends candidates to the Board of Directors, based on nominations from current fellow members. The number of fellows is limited by the bylaws to 10 percent of the total membership.
“OSA Fellows represent the best of the field,” said Rod Alferness, OSA president. “I am proud to honor my colleagues with this distinction and recognize their accomplishments. Their contributions, leadership and dedication have made a dynamic impact on all of us who work in optics and photonics.”
This year’s fellows once again hail from around the globe, 20 of whom are affiliated with institutions outside the United States. Fellows are selected on a variety of criteria such as record of publications related to optics, service to OSA, achievements in optics and management ability.
Following is an alphabetical listing of OSA’s 2008 fellows. Specific information on each fellow’s accomplishments can be found at http://www.osa.org/aboutosa/awards/fellows/recentfellows/2008.aspx.
Pierre Agostini, Ohio State University, USA
Polina Bayvel, University College London, United Kingdom
Paul R. Berman, University of Michigan, USA
Tim Birks, University of Bath, United Kingdom
Brett E. Bouma, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, USA
Jean Paul Chambaret, Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée LOA/Ecole Polytechnique, France
Angel Costela, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain
Mario Dagenais, University of Maryland, USA
Larry R. Dalton, University of Washington, USA
Cornelia Denz, Universität Münster, Germany
Kishan Dholakia, University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom
Yujie J. Ding, Lehigh University, USA
Ronald G. Driggers, U.S. Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, USA
Gary S. Duck, Ventana Management Services, Canada
Richard I. Epstein, Los Alamos National Lab, USA
Shanhui Fan, Stanford University, USA
James L. Fergason, Fergason Patent Properties, USA
F. Javier Garcia de Abajo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain
Harald Giessen, University of Stuttgart, Germany
Leonid B. Glebov, University of Central Florida, USA
Sailing He, Zhejiang University, China, and Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Edwin J. Heilweil, National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA
Ralph B. James, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA
Alex K-Y. Jen, University of Washington, USA
Franz X. Kärtner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Philippe Lalanne, CNRS/Laboratoire Charles Fabry de Institut d’Optique, France
Michael S. Lebby, OIDA, USA
Michal Lipson, Cornell University, USA
Serge Luryi, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA
Eric Mazur, Harvard University, USA
John J. McCann, McCann Imaging, USA
Arthur R. McGurn, Western Michigan University, USA
Paul F. McManamon, Air Force Research Laboratory, USA
Robert A. Minasian, University of Sydney, Australia
Kenzo Miyazaki, Kyoto University, Japan
Alan J. Morrow, BinOptics Corporation, USA
David J. Moss, University of Sydney, Australia
Charles R. Munnerlyn, VISX, Inc. (retired), USA
Kyle J. Myers, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA
John D. O’Brien, University of Southern California, USA
Howard A. Padmore, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Xiaochuan Pan, The University of Chicago, USA
Eugene S. Polzik, Niels Bohr Institute, Denmark
Evgeny Popov, Institut Fresnel, France
Margaret D. Reid, University of Queensland, Australia
Steven L. Rolston, University of Maryland, USA
Timothy J. Schulz, Michigan Technological University, USA
Trevor J. Sears, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University, USA
Bruce W. Shore, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (retired), USA
Olav Solgaard, Stanford University, USA
Donna Strickland, University of Waterloo, Canada
Jonathan Tennyson, University College London, United Kingdom
Jeffrey Owen White, Army Research Laboratory, USA
Anatoly V. Zayats, The Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society of America (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
Contact:
Angela Stark
Optical Society of America
202.416.1443
astark@osa.org
The United Nations (UN) 62nd General Assembly proclaimed 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. The Resolution was submitted by Italy, Galileo Galilei's home country. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is an initiative of the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO.
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) celebrates the first astronomical use of the telescope by Galileo – a momentous event that initiated 400 years of astronomical discoveries and triggered a scientific revolution which profoundly affected our worldview. Now telescopes on the ground and in space explore the Universe, 24 hours a day, across all wavelengths of light. The President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Catherine Cesarsky says: "The International Year of Astronomy 2009 gives all nations a chance to participate in this ongoing exciting scientific and technological revolution."
The IYA2009 will highlight global cooperation for peaceful purposes – the search for our cosmic origin and our common heritage which connect all citizens of planet Earth. For several millennia, astronomers have worked together across all boundaries including geographic, gender, age, culture and race, in line with the principles of the UN Charter. In that sense, astronomy is a classic example of how science can contribute towards furthering international cooperation.
At the IAU General Assembly on 23 July 2003 in Sydney (Australia), the IAU unanimously approved a resolution in favour of the proclamation of 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. Based on Italy’s initiative, UNESCO’s General Conference at its 33rd session recommended that the UN General Assembly adopt a resolution to declare 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. On 20 December 2007 the International Year of Astronomy 2009 was proclaimed by the United Nations 62nd General Assembly. The UN has designated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the lead agency for the IYA2009. The IAU will function as the facilitating body for IYA2009.
The IYA2009 is, first and foremost, an activity for the citizens of planet Earth. It aims to convey the excitement of personal discovery, the pleasure of sharing fundamental knowledge about the Universe and our place in it, and the merits of the scientific method. Astronomy is an invaluable source of inspiration for humankind throughout all nations. So far 99 nations and 14 organisations have signed up to participate in the IYA2009 – an unprecedented network of committed communicators and educators in astronomy.
For more information on the International Year of Astronomy 2009 please visit the website at http://www.astronomy2009.org
During 2008, Physical Review Letters celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The PRL website has been redesigned with many new features, including essays and editorials, a timeline, and a series of milestone letters. There is also a calendar of special events taking place throughout the year.
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