 Faculty News Dr. Lali Chatterjee's letter on teaching innovations appeared in the October 2001 issue of Forum on Physics & Society.
Dr. Stu Elston and Dr. Charmaine Mamantov, adjunct professor of chemistry, taught a Physical Science Hands-On Workshop for Sixth Grade Teachers in Knox County Schools in late July. Held at West Valley Middle School, the nine teachers attending studied force of motion, properties of matter, physical and chemical changes. Each teacher earned in-service credit for attending the workshop and received sets of materials and supplies to take back to their classrooms to use in teaching these concepts to their students. Mr. Rodney Russell of the Knox County Schools Science Department worked with Drs. Elston and Mamantov to make sure the material was applicable for the sixth grade level.
Robertsville Middle School sent 180 eighth grade students and their teachers to campus for a visit in October. Dr. Jon Levin and Dr. Jim Parks outfitted the youth with some beyond-fashionable glasses and showed them light bulbs of various types to illustrate continuous, emission and absorption spectra. They also looked at several kinds of laser light and transmitted a radio station's broadcast with a laser (Look Ma-No wires!).
Dr. Witek Nazarewicz has been invited to join the editorial board for Reports on Progress in Physics for two years, from January 2002 until December 2003. Reports on Progress in Physics publishes authoritative review articles, which are nearly always written at the invitation of the editorial board.
Dr. Ward Plummer, UT/ORNL Distinguished Scientist, was named a 2001 winner of the American Vacuum Society's prestigious Medard W. Welch Award. The AVS recognized Dr. Plummer for mentoring young scientists and for developing novel instrumentation used in exploring surface physics of metals. The award included a $10,000 cash prize, a gold medal, and an honorary lectureship at the AVS meeting in San Francisco, October 28-November 2.
Physics department collaborations are featured prominently in the latest edition of the ORNL Review, which features basic science at ORNL. Dr. Witek Nazarewicz and Dr. David Dean discuss nuclear physics (Dr. Dean is also mentioned in a discussion of quantum dot arrays, along with Dr. Mike Strayer). Dr. Pengcheng Dai is mentioned in reference to ORNL's neutrons and superconductivity research. An article on the PHENIX project takes into account the work of UT physicists Dr. Ken Read, Dr. Soren Sorensen, and Dr. Yuri Efremenko. There's also an interview with the late Dr. Sheldon Datz (UT Ph.D., 1960, physical chemistry), who won the Enrico Fermi Award in the fall of 2000. The ORNL Review is available online at: http://www.ornl.gov/ORNLReview/
Staff NewsThe physics department staff is pleased to welcome two new additions: Sarah Lockard, who joined the office staff this fall as a UT student assistant; and Andrea Synstelien, the new electronic specialist in the electronics shop.
Congratulations to Paul Lewis on being named a Solar System Ambassador by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He will serve from January 1 until December 31, 2002.
Student NewsCongratulations to Sukill Kang, who graduated in August with a Ph.D. in physics. Dr. Tom Callcott served as his dissertation adviser.
The department mourns the loss of graduate student Andrea Pryer Ross, who was pursuing a Ph.D. in physics at when she lost her battle with cancer on August 7. Mrs. Ross, 37, had already poured her energy into education, working as a teacher from 1995 to 1997 at Lausanne Collegiate School and for a semester at Memphis City Schools' Westwood High. She earned both bachelors and masters degrees in physics at the University of Memphis and a second master's degree in quantum physics from the University of Mississippi. She will be greatly missed.
Alumni NewsPhysics alumnus Jeff Thompson (Ph.D. 1989) became physics department chair at The University of Nevada Reno on July 1, 2001. Dr. Thompson was featured in the Fall 2000 issue of Cross Sections.
Cross Sections, Fall/Winter 2001 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on December 21, 2001. Please send comments to cal@utk.edu. |