ACTIONS
1997INTER ACTIONS
1997
Around the Department
The 1996-97 academic year was a successful and busy one for our department. We are pleased to list degrees granted (see Graduation) to our students, and awards and honors received by our students and faculty.
Mary Shope, who served as secretary on the sixth floor of Wean Hall retired in January after 16 years on the job. Many students will recall her cheerfulness while helping them with course registration and other administrative tasks.
Joe Artman passed away on Dec. 8, 1996. He was a member of the physics faculty, from 1964 until his retirement in 1993. Joe's career in condensed matter physics, optics, electrical engineering and teaching are well known in our community.
We hired theoretical particle physicist Ira Rothstein, previously a post-doctoral associate at the University of California, San Diego. He takes a position left open by the departure of Martin Savage. Rothstein's research centers on quantum field theory of weak and strong interactions, neutrino astrophysics and cosmology.
Our departmental advisory board visited in October. This panel of experts from academia and industry advise the university administration on the achievements and needs of the physics department. On their recommendation we are now searching for an assistant professor in experimental condensed matter physics. We are also starting to raise funds to help build an important new telescope (see "Cosmic Expansion" article).
The annual Buhl Lecture was delivered by Edward "Rocky" Kolb, from the University of Chicago and the Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Titled "From the Primordial Soup to Pittsburgh," this well attended public talk addressed the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present.
