Other notable attendees were physics alumnus Dr. Trent Nichols and his wife Sally, a UT architecture graduate. Dr. Clark Lindsey, a physics alumnus and former Roseberry Award winner, also attended the ceremonies, as did representatives from the College of Arts and Sciences, including Dean Lorayne Lester and Dr. Stuart Riggsby, associate dean of research.

The ceremony began with the induction of students into Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society. Students must have an overall grade point average of 3.25 and a physics GPA of 3.5 to be considered for membership. Joining this prestigious group were Karl Whealton (undergraduate), Noel Black, and Kwonjae Yoo (both graduate students).

The department takes great pride in recognizing student excellence, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Five awards and four citations were awarded on honors day, including:

• Outstanding First Year Physics Student
  This award honors exceptional achievement by a student in the first year of physics study at UTK. Thomas Gadfort was the 1998 winner, taking home a copy of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics.

• Douglas V. Roseberry Distinguished Upper Class Major Award
  The Roseberry Award acknowledges an advanced physics student who demonstrates a talent for learning physics as well as a commitment to participation in departmental activities. The award is named for Douglas Roseberry, an undergraduate physics major at UT in the 1950s. The $500 award went to Ted Corcovilos, who also won this award in 1997, making him the first student to win it two years in a row.

• Paul H. Stelson Fellowship in Physics
  The Stelson Fellowship is named for Dr. Paul H. Stelson, an adjunct professor of physics at UT from 1967 until his death in 1992. Dr. Stelson was a nuclear physicist with a long and prestigious career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Stelson family established this fellowship to continue the strong relationship between UT and ORNL physics and to assist young scientists. The 1998 award ($2,500) went to Saskia Mioduszewski.

• Joe Fowler and Jerry Marion Outstanding Graduate Student Award
  The Fowler-Marion Award recognizes exceptional achievement by a physics graduate student. The honor is named for Dr. Joe Fowler and Dr. Jerry Marion, two physicists with ties to ORNL. They wrote a textbook and subsequently donated the book's royalties to the physics department. Wei Koo won the $1,000 award.

• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
  The department established this award in 1997 to commend graduate teaching assistants who, by the students' own evaluations, are the most effective and committed laboratory instructors. The 1998 award went to two GTAs, Darren Ellis and Matthew Poston, each of whom won $500.

• Robert W. Lide Citations
  Dr. Robert Lide joined the UT physics faculty in 1957. During his three decades in the department, he spent a substantial amount of time organizing and working in the undergraduate laboratories, a practice he continued even after his retirement in 1991. To honor Dr. Lide's contributions, and to recognize students of like qualities, the department established four laboratory citations in his name. The 1998 Honors Day ceremony was the first time they were awarded, with Dr. Lide in attendance. The winners were:
  • For Outstanding Physics Laboratory Service: Daniel Stephens
  • For Outstanding Physics Laboratory Development: Andrew Glenn
  • For Outstanding Physics Laboratory Innovation: Sam Held
  • For Outstanding Astronomy Laboratory Leadership: Stephen Mahan