December 05, 2006
Congratulations to Prof. Danny Marfatia on being
awarded an NSF CAREER Award
within Elementary Particle Physics Theory for the program:
Neutrinos In and Beyond the Standard Model and Outreach Connections. The award
amounts to $80K per year for 5 years. A KU press release can be accessed at
this site.
November 14, 2005
Two notes concerning past staff members of the Department: Byron Carl Sneegas died Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2005, at his home. He was born July 8, 1923, in Lawrence, the son of Walter B. and Mary Louise Marsh Sneegas. He attended Lawrence public schools and graduated from Liberty Memorial High School. He was a lifelong resident of Lawrence. Mr. Sneegas served in the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945 and spent 18 months in Europe.After his service, he worked for Reuter Organ Co. He worked as a machinist for the Kansas University Department of Physics and Astronomy for 21 years and retired in 1988. He was a member and past council president of Trinity Lutheran Church. He also served as past president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was a silversmith and an original member of the Lawrence Art Guild. He was also a member of Masonic Lodge 6 and American Legion Dorsey-Liberty Post 14. He married Mary Jeanne Johnson on March 5, 1949, in Randolph. She survives, of the home.
Allen
and Elaine Vick, Lawrence, celebrated their 60th wedding
anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 13, with family. They were married Nov. 11, 1945,
in Baldwin, where they have lived most of their married lives. They owned
a photography studio. Elaine Vick worked as a secretary within the Department
of Physics and Astronomy in the 70's and 80's. Their children are Kevan
and Gail Vick, Lawrence; Shari and Don Raybern, Lawrence; Ardith and Mike
Meadows, Topeka; and the late Lynette Rasmussen. They have 11 grandchildren
and two great-grandchildren. Cards may be sent to: 4720 Brandon Woods Terrace,
Room 408, Lawrence, KS 66047.
October 21, 2005
Two
publishing events of consequence for members of the Department (and
potentially their students) have occurred recently. Prof.
Steve Shawl, in collaboration with coauthors Keith Ashman
of UMKC and Beth Hufnagel, have published the fifth edition of their
introductory textbook, Discovering Astronomy.
This edition, nearly two years in the making, updates many of the advances
that have occurred in Astronomy and Astrophysics and modernizes the
presentation of many others.
Prof. Jeff Olafsen, in collaboration
with M. D. Sturge (deceased), has published A Solutions
Manual for Statistical and Thermal Physics: Fundamentals and Applications
with A.K. Peters, Ltd.
10/13/05
The University of Kansas Office of Admissions and Scholarships
announced its selections for Summerfield Scholars and Watkins-Berger
Scholars for Fall 2005. Congratulations to Physics major Andrew
Allen Rotman on his selection as a
Summerfield Scholar. Andrew
is the son of Dennis and Mary Rotman of
Cawker City, KS. The complete press release can be
found at this
site.
October 12, 2005
The
University of Kansas Office of Admissions and Scholarships has announced
the names of 78 KU students in three national scholarship programs:
National Merit, National Achievement and National Hispanic. Among the
70 National Merit Scholars are two majors within the Department of Physics
& Astronomy, Physics major William
Peck Pflug of
Omaha, NE, and Engineering Physics major, Jennifer
Marie Harness of
Ottawa, KS. The complete press release can be found at this
site.
October 10, 2005
Laura Stiles received
a Conference Experience for Undergraduates Award to present her poster
on Quark Chemistry at the APS Nuclear Physics Meeting in Maui, Hawaii.
Laura's work suggests that different parts of the matter created in
relativistics heavy ion collisions lose causal contact with each other
before reaching chemical equilibrium.
Congratulations
to Elisabeth Callen
and Chad Kyle
on their selection as recipients of the Badgley
Fund Scholarship and the Hansel
Fund Scholarship, respectively, for 2005-2006.
The scholarships from the Badgley Fund and the Lowry Fund were awarded
for the first time this year, while the Hansel Fund Scholarship is being
awarded for only the second time. Chad Kyle was also the first recipient
last year.
Congratulations to Juniors Michael Scott Merz and Andrew Lake Wooten above, both majors in Engineering Physics, 2005/06 recipients of the Francis W. Prosser Scholarship for majors in Physics or Engineering Physics.
September 15, 2005
Congratulations to the three seniors above, Larissa Ejzak, Hannah Swift, and Miles Garrett, on their selection as recipients of the 2005/06 Stranathan Award within the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Larissa is a double major in Physics and Theatre and Film, Hannah is a triple major in Astronomy, Math, and Physics, and Miles is a triple major in Physics, Math and Philosophy.
September 13, 2005
Graduate student Devdeep Sarkar received a $700 grant from the APS/NSF/Organizers of CAM 2005, to attend the Canadian-American-Mexican Intl' Graduate Student Conference held at San Diego, CA (Aug 19-21). He gave a presentation on "Are Recent Cosmological Velocity Field Surveys Consistent With One Another"?
September 08, 2005
August 25, 2005
Four recent University of Kansas graduates are pursuing graduate degrees this fall with National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships that provide each Fellow up to $121,500 over three years. Two of these graduates are from Physics & Astronomy, Sarah Feldt, now at the University of Michigan, and Jesse Noffsinger, who is now attending Berkeley. All three students who received honorable mention, Jacob King, Ian Lewis, and Josh Meyers, graduated from the Department after doing research within Physics & Astronomy. All have gone on to graduate work in Physics or Astronomy. For the complete story, see the press release at this site.
August 22, 2005
Congratulations to senior major in Astronomy, Math, and Physics Hannah Swift on her selection as a KU Woman of Distinction for 2005/06. The calendar featuring all of this year's selections is now available at all KU Bookstores in Lawrence and on the KU Edwards Campus in Overland Park, and at the Student Involvement and Leadership Center in the Kansas Union. A press release with background info on the the selected women can be found at this site.
August 19, 2005
August 15, 2005
Seven prospective majors within the Department have been designated Mt. Oread Scholars and have been invited to take part in the walk up Mt. Oread today. For details, see the press release at this site. The seven majors are:Andrew Daniel Piwowarek of Olathe East High School Olathe KS, Engineering PhysicsBS, freshman son of Stanley and Christine Piwowarek; David Michael Hazlewood of Shawnee Mission North High School, Shawnee Mission KS, Engineering PhysicsBS, freshman son of Richard and Kathleen Hazlewood; Lance Michael Windholz of Louisburg High School Louisburg KS, AstronomyBS, freshman son of Michael Windholz; Tisa Michelle Martinson of Manhattan High School Manhattan KS, AstronomyBS, freshman daughter of Dale and Marlea Martinson; Donald William Millsap of Platte County R-III High Sch Platte City MO, PhysicsBS, freshman son of Sandy Millsap; Katherine Rochelle Okrina of Central High School Omaha NE, AstronomyBS, freshman daughter of Brad Okrina; Thomas Cooper O'Brien of Midland High School Midland MI, freshman son of William and Kimberly O'Brien.
August 05, 2005
Professor Dave Besson is one of three KU faculty members selected for Fulbright Senior Scholar Awards for the 2005-06 academic year. More than 269 KU faculty have received Fulbright grants since the program's beginning more than 50 years ago. Prof. Besson received a Fulbright scholar research award to Russia, where he will be affiliated with the Institute of Nuclear Research in Moscow, and coordinating with the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institutes in St. Petersburg. The full KU press release can be found at this site.
July 22, 2005
A
team of physicists, designers, eductaors and writers led by
Prof. Alice Bean has received a $200 K grant
from the National Science Foundation to introduce schoolchildren
to nature's tiniest building blocks, called quarks. The funding
will help the team build a Web site, create video animations,
and devise othe educational materials for a touring show. The
KU press release can be found at this
site, while a commentary on the project is this
week's
column by Roger Martin.
July 06, 2005
The ongoing research by Adrian Melott and Brian Thomas on the possible side effects of gamma ray bursts on the Earth's climate and worldwide extinctions was featured in an article on news@nature.com, the online news outlet of the journal Nature. A copy of the report can be accessed here.
The
2004/05 Annual Department Banquet
was held at Badd Jacks in Tongonoxie on May 14.
The crowd ofover
80 faculty, students and staff enjoyed a tasty Mexican dinner while
listening to an extensive list of accomplishments within the Department.
Graduating this year at the undergraduate level, along with their specific
degree, are:
Adam G. Lohoefener (BS Engineering Physics),
Andrew R. Bricker (BA Astronomy), Joshua
E. Meyers (BS, Astronomy, Physics), Stephen
N. Floor (BS Physics), Andrew Giebler (BS
Physics), Jacob R. King (BS Physics), Ian
M. Lewis (BS Physics), Matthew H. Matheny
(BS Physics), Jesse D. Noffsinger (BS
Physics), Andrew J. Womack (BS Physics),
and Jason Shea (BS Physics). At the graduate
level, graduating this year are: Scott W. Chambers
(Ph.D. Physics), Nurur Rahman (Ph.D.
Physics), Lihui Jin (Ph.D. Physics), Brian
Thomas (Ph.D. Physics), Shahid Hussain
(Ph.D. Physics), Mike Santilli (MS, Physics),
Jan Kurzidim (MS, Physics), Darius
Gallagher (MS, Physics), and Carissa Hill
(MS, Physics).
Also
given out were awards for the Outstanding Senior
in Engineering Physics to Adam Lohoefener,
the Prosser Award for Undergraduate Majors
to Daniel Hogan, Luis Vargas, and David Jones,
and the E.E. Slossen Award for Outstanding Graduate
Teaching Assistants to Evan Guarnaccia,
Rainer Schiel, and Shramana
Mishra. The Undergraduate Faculty Teaching
Award went to Prof. Judy Wu, while
the SPS Staff Person of the Year was presented
to Mr. Robert Curry.
May 04, 2005
Undergraduate Research Awards from the Honors Program for Summer 2005:
Lori
Smith, senior in astronomy, mathematics and
physics, daughter of Darrel and Kathy Smith; Baldwin High School,
will study Correlating Cosmic Ray Flux with the Bone
Cancer Rate with Larry Martin, professor and senior
curator, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
and Prof. Adrian Melott.
Brennan R. Metzler,
junior in mathematics and physics, son of Rob and Marcia Metzler;
Rockhurst High School, Kansas City, MO., will study Front-End
Electronics for the Zero Degree Colorimeter with Profs.
Michael Murray, and Steve Sanders
Laura A. Stiles, sophomore in engineering physics,
daughter of Mark and Brenda Stiles, Shawnee Mission East High
School, will study Quark Chemistry: Is Chemical Equilibrium
Attained in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions? with
Profs. Michael Murray and Steve Sanders.
Benjamin E. Bammes, senior in computer engineering
and physics, son of Eugene and Ruth Bammes, Washburn Rural High
School, will work on Modeling Polymer Folding in a Poor
Solvent with Prof. Jeff Olafsen.
Dana Craig Maher, senior in physics, son of
Susan N. Maher; Omaha Central High School, will study Attenuation
and Dispersion in a 1D Stress Chain with Prof. Jeff
Olafsen.
April 19, 2005
Congratulations to Jesse Noffsinger and Sarah Feldt, winners of National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research fellowship (GRF) Awards. Three other undergraduate students from our Department received honorable mentions. Their names are: Jake King, Ian Lewis, Josh Meyers. The list of award recipients will be posted on https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/
April 26, 2005
The 27-inch mirror of the Pitt Telescope, a staple on the KU campus for over 60 years, has been resurrected within a new mount and drive system using funds supplied by a NASA grant to NEKAAL, the amateur astronomy club of Topeka. The renamed Tombaugh Telescope was dedicated earlier this month at a ceremony that included alumnus Lindley Johnson (BA: ASTR 1980), director of the NASA program. The telescope has already taken observations as part of its role in searching for Near-Earth asteroids. A report on the telescope can be found in the latest issue of Sky & Telescope magazine.
April 18, 2005
The
35th Annual MidAmerican Regional Astrophysics Conference
(MARAC) was held at the
Linda Hall Library of the University of Missouri, Kansas City
on Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, 2005. A record number of
attendees (56) gathered to hear a diverse range of talks on
everything from science education to cosmology, including a
popular public talk on the Cassini-Huygens Mission by the invited
speaker, Tom Cravens
of KU, on Friday evening . Presentations from KU included Geocoronal
X-rays by Ina Piket
Robertson, Gamma-Ray Bursts and Terrestrial
Ozone Depletion: Exploration of Event Latitude and Season Effects
by Brian Thomas,
and vbyCaHb CCD Photometry of Open Clusters: NGC 2420 and
NGC 6791 by B. J. Anthony-Twarog,
B. A. Twarog, M. M. Cracraft, D. Tanner, and L. Mayer.
April 12, 2005
Congratulations to Andrew Womack, one of 3 seniors on the mathematics team of University of Kansas students which placed in the top 5.5 percent nationwide among intercollegiate undergraduate teams in the 65th William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. Andrew was also part of first Kansas Collegiate Mathematics Competition.The 3-student team finished second overall and Andrew won the $100 Third Place Individual award.
April 11, 2005
Congratulations
to Josh Meyers, winner
of the Class of 1913 Award, Chancellor's
Student Award for 2005, one of ten University of Kansas
graduating seniors surprised by a visit to the students' classrooms
to present the citations. The awards recognize the students'
academic, volunteer and leadership accomplishments during their
undergraduate years at the university.The ten honorees also
will sit on a platform with the chancellor during commencement
activities in KU's Memorial Stadium, and their portraits will
be in the commencement.
April 06, 2005
Click image to see video.
The publication of a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters by a collaborative team including KU Physics & Astronomy faculty and students (Adrian Melott,Brian Thomas, Daniel Hogan) discussing the effects of gamma ray bursts on life on Earth, is the focus of a NASA news item and a KU press release. The NASA link includes a variety of images and animations illustrating the effects. Click on the image above to see gamma ray burst shock the Earth!
April 07, 2005
Congratulations! Linda and Jeff Olafsen became the proud parents of John Sidney Olafsen, born at 12:13 PM, 04/06/05. John's vital stats are weight = 6 lbs 9 oz and height = 20 inches.
April 01, 2005
Congratulations to Brian Moehring, Olathe sophomore in mathematics and physics, who won the $300 first prize in the junior-level competition, open to all undergraduates who are not seniors, of the 23rd annual University of Kansas Mathematics Prize Competition.
March 24, 2005
Congratulations to undergraduate majors Shawn Henderson, Wichita, David Hover, Overland Park, and Hannah Swift, Olathe on their selection as Barry M. Goldwater Scholars for 2005. The Goldwater Scholarships are designed to encourage excellence in science, engineering and mathematics. All plan to graduate in May 2006.
March 15, 2005
Undergraduate
Physics major Daniel Hogan
and Physics graduate student Devdeep
Sarkar have received $600 travel awards from
the American Physical Society to its April Meeting in Tampa
to present posters on
Climatic and Biotic Effects of a Gamma Ray Burst
near Earth - (DH)
and
Are
All Peculiar Velocity Surveys Consistent with Each Other? -
(DS)
March 02, 2005
Department
faculty regularly contribute to or are the focus of stories
in the local media. Here are a few that have appeared in the
last two months:
February 23, 2005
February 18, 2005
Today is the 75th anniversary
of the discovery of Pluto by KU graduate Clyde Tombaugh.
Tombaugh found Pluto on Feb. 18,
1930 using the telescopes and equipment of the Lowell Observatory
in Arizona. After the discovery, Tombaugh received a scholarship
to attend the University of Kansas, where he completed a BS and
MS degree in Astronomy in 1939. A longtime supporter of Astronomy
and the University of Kansas, Tombaugh passed away in 1997. Feb.
4, 2006 will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. News
stories celebrating the anniversary can be found at the
site discussing the campaign to raise funds for an undergraduate
scholarship in Astronomy during the coming year, Campaign7500.
January 30, 2005
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
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