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Previous
years' Thomas H. Osgood Memorial Faculty Teaching Awards
The 2007 Physics & Astronomy Distinguished
Staff Award
This award is presented to a staff member who has served above and
beyond the call of duty, selected by a vote of the faculty. This year's
award goes to Dan Edmunds. He is the electronics wizard cited for his outstanding
work over the years with every sort of HEP detector the department has been involved in.
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Previous
years' Distinguished Staff Awards
Promotions in the Physics & Astronomy Department
Recent
years' Physics and Astronomy Department Promotions
Other Recent Awards, Offices and Honors
The Distinguished Faculty Awards have existed at Michigan State University
since 1952. They have been presented annually at the convocation in early February
when the University President presents the "State of the University" address.
In the early days the awardee was selected by President John A. Hannah and
the number of recipients for the first several years was one or two.
In the early '60s the number receiving these prestigious awards was increased to
six (still selected by President Hannah from a list of twelve recommended by
a University committee from the nominations of individuals, departments and colleges).
The number awarded by the University each year is now ten. In 2004, two
of the recipients of the
Distinguished Faculty Awards were from the
Physics/Astronomy Department. They were Raymond Brock
and Alex Brown. When the 2005 awards were revealed this year at the
President's State of the University address, Michael Thoennessen was
among those who were so honored.
In 2006 Timothy Beers was among the recipients of the Distinguished Facculty Awards.
The citation with his award read as follows."Timothy C. Beers' scientific vision and pursuit of excellence in
research, education and outreach has made him the worldwide leader in the search for the oldest and most
chemically primitive stars in the galaxy and the universe. His efforts have led to the identification of more
than 2,000 stars with metal abundances less than one percent of the solar value. These stars are providing
astronomers and physicists with their best records of the chemical composition of the universe from the time
of their formation some 13.5 billion years ago and of the origin and evolution of the chemical elements.
Beers is a co-discoverer of the two most primitive "still shining" stars known and was named 2003 Michigan
Scientist of the Year by Impression 5 Science Center. He is also a co-investigator in the $10 million Joint
Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics Physics Frontier Center and spearheads its involvement in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey".
Previous
years' Physics and Astronomy Department recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Awards
On June 27, 2003 the Board of Trustees approved the title of
University
Distinguished Professor for two
of our faculty members, Bradley Sherrill
and Gary Westfall. They are the latest recipients in our department to receive this distinguished designation.
Both Brad and Gary are experimental nuclear physicists,
and members of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Brad
uses the MSU cyclotron to study nuclear reactions that take place in
various astrophysical environments. In particular he is investigating
radioactive nuclei that play a key role in supernovae explosions. He is
also active in the study of nuclei far from stability and, as an expert
in radioactive beams, would be a leading user of the $900M RIA project,
especially if we can attract it to MSU. Gary has also been a major researcher
at the MSU cyclotron and has used it to investigate nuclear matter at
extreme temperatures and pressures. In experiments at the Relativistic
Heavy Ion Collider (at Brookhaven Laboratory) Gary plays a leading role in
experiments in which nuclear matter is compressed to densities more than
ten times normal. These extreme densities are similar to those that
existed in the universe a few seconds after the Big Bang. In addition to
their scientific distinction, Brad and Gary are both effective and popular
teachers.
The well-deserved honor of University Distinguished Professorships reflects their overall
contributions to the department, the college and the university, and is a
high point of their very distinguished careers. We are proud of them!
The designation of University Distinguished Professor (UDP) was only given
to a total of 10 MSU faculty members, bringing the total number to 65
across the University. Brad Sherrill and Gary Westfall join Sam Austin
(Emeritus), Walter Benenson, Henry Blosser (Emeritus), Konrad Gelbke,
Edwin Kashy (Emeritus), and Michael Thorpe (Emeritus) in the UDP ranks,
making ours the most successful department on campus in this respect.
Previous
years' elevation to University Distinguished Professorships
Upon his retirement from the University Presidency, John Hannah was honored by the Board of Trustees
with the establishment of the John A. Hannah endowed Professorships. Currently there are six faculty
in the University who have these endowed chairs. The late Professor P. Gregers Hansen, who had a joint appointment
at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the Physics and Astronomy Department, was a Hannah Professor since 1995 until; his passing.
In past years David Scott and George Bertsch, also then at the NSCL and P-A Department, were Hannah Professors.
MSU Physics-Astronomy Awards Page, maintained by Julius
S. Kovacs.
Updated May 29, 2007