Physics Update 2019

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College of Science and Technology

PHYSICS UPDATE SUMMER 2019

Chair’s Message It pleases me to reflect on the accomplishments of the Physics Department. I am now in the middle of my sixth year at Temple University, and the end of my fourth year as department chair. We’ve had many successes, and have overcome many obstacles, all thanks to our outstanding faculty, talented students and excellent staff. The academic promise of our students continues to be nationally recognized. One graduating senior has won a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship to Stanford University, and an undergraduate physics major is our second Goldwater Scholar in as many years. A new PhD graduate was awarded a Graduate Student Research opportunity from the U.S. Department of Energy. Our faculty continue their achievements. Andreas Metz was promoted to professor, John Noel was promoted to associate professor, and Matthew Newby, professor of instruction, won the CST Distinguished Teaching Award. Faculty research was featured in high-profile venues, and external research funding is strong. We are implementing key recommendations of the External Visiting Committee report from last year. Most important so far is the modernization of our Physics Graduate Program led by John Perdew, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry. We are working to address other recommendations of the report as well. Please get in touch if you would like to visit our department, meet our faculty and students or tour our facilities. I would be honored to show you around.

Jim Napolitano Professor and Chair

phys.temple.edu

Physics students earn national recognition Temple’s second Goldwater Scholarship Mitchell Young, a rising junior physics and mechanical engineering double major, has become the second Temple University student in as many years— and the second student ever—to win a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) award for undergraduates. Ruth Ost, the senior director of the Temple University Honors Program, of which Young is a member, calls it “the Rhodes Scholarship of STEM.” Young was one of just 496 U.S. college students selected for the scholarship this year from a pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors nominated by 443 academic institutions. “It was a bit shocking when I first learned about it,” says Mitchell, who is from Springfield, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. “Now it’s become something I am very proud to have accomplished.”

1st Temple Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford Marcus Forst, BA ’19, a physics major, is the first Temple University student to be named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. The competitive scholarship program awards financial support for the full cost of attendance for three years of graduate education at Stanford University.

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Support Physics and CST You can contribute to the continued success of CST and the Department of Physics by supporting scholarships, undergraduate research, faculty endowment and innovative programs. Make your gift at giving.temple.edu/givetocst.


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