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Reading in Fall 2003'S Inside Physics

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Reading in Fall 2003'S Inside Physics FFromrom thethe ChairChair available in the fall of 2001. Visits elcome to the first edition of our by prospective students nearly newsletter, created to keep us in doubled the number for the newsletter, created to keep us in previous year, and 33 new Wclose touch with our alumni and graduate students appeared in the friends. We’d like to hear your reaction: fall of 2001. We were especially friends. We’d like to hear your reaction: pleased that 30% of the entering what’s satisfying, what’s not, what’s class were women. I hope this is missing. Please let us know. no “fluke” and that we continue missing. Please let us know. to increase the participation of women in physics. The applica- tions for the fall of 2002 number Jim Allen over 500 and we look forward to Department Chair enrolling another strong class. OUR FUTURE Three new faculty joined our als. And Walter himself, the EXCITING TIMES ranks: Crystal Martin, an observa- founding director of the Institute “You can dismiss one Nobel Prize tional astrophysicist from Caltech; for Theoretical Physics, received as a statistical fluke,” Walter Kohn David Stuart, a high energy the 1998 prize in chemistry. remarked, “but a spate of three experimental physicist from Fermi signals something important and Lab; and Dik Bouwmeester from exciting happening at UCSB.” ENDOWED CHAIR Oxford, who works on quantum We are delighted that a chair in The three Nobels reflect UCSB’s optics and experimental quantum experimental physics has been longstanding commitment to information science. We continue endowed by Bruce and Susan excellence in science and engi- to search for new faculty in Worster. The department is neering. They also highlight a experimental condensed matter, deeply grateful to the Worsters core strength of UCSB: the string theory, biophysics, theoreti- for their generous support and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary cal astrophysics, and gravitational affirmation of the value of research. Alan Heeger, a member physics. physics at UCSB to our students, of both the physics and materials to California, and to the nation. departments, received the 2000 LONG-TERM PLANNING The new chair will aid greatly in prize in chemistry for discovering A cornerstone of our long-term attracting new experimental and developing conductive vision is a new building, compris- faculty of the highest quality. polymers. Herb Kroemer, who ing classrooms, offices, commons, received the 2000 prize in physics and a community science center. for developing semiconductor GRADUATE APPLICATIONS SOAR This new building will enable us heterostructures used in high- Last spring’s applications to the to recover important laboratory speed and opto-electronics, calls graduate program surged by 30 space in Broida that we are himself “an applied theorist” and percent over previous years. Four currently forced to use for other works with faculty in physics, hundred fifty students applied for purposes, such as offices. electrical engineering, and materi- the approximately thirty positions 1 Friends of Physics Bruce and Susan Worster Endow First Experimental Chair Bruce and Susan Worster have says Rolly Morrison, who was established the first endowed department chair when the gift chair in experimental physics was made, “will be crucial in with a gift of $510,000. attracting and retaining outstand- ing faculty in this most important t is the happy privilege of the and highly competitive area.” experimentalist to know that I nature never gets it wrong. Chancellor Henry Yang, who Bruce Worster (PhD 1971) did his characterizes the endowment as thesis work in the high-energy “visionary and generous,” echoes physics group, conducting experi- that view: “Competition for ments to probe the structure of recruitment and retention of top- the proton with deep inelastic notch experimental physicists Compton scattering. “We tested today is fierce,” he says. “This the [then current] model. The tests endowment comes at a critical succeeded,” he says cheerfully, time and will be of significant “but the model didn’t.” help to our efforts in this area.” Caldwell and Rolly Morrison, was After earning his doctorate, Bruce extremely supportive. It’s history For more information on gifts and went into industry, bringing his now, but the late sixties and early bequests to the physics depart- experimental expertise to such seventies was a very turbulent ment, please contact: endeavors as using lasers to time: riots, the burning of the automatically detect defects in bank in Isla Vista, sabotage on Jim Allen, Chair semiconductors and developing campus. The physics faculty never Department of Physics fiber optics components for wavered in their support and University of California telecommunication. “While the concern for our well-being. Santa Barbara, California 93106 purpose of the equipment is (805) 893-4888 different,” he says, “you’re apply- “We wanted to give something [email protected] ing the same techniques: design- back.” or ing and building equipment, Susan Worster (BS in environmen- making measurements, interpret- Regina Rivera, Development ing data. And a general knowl- tal biology 1970), now a trustee of the UCSB Foundation, adds, “As Assistant edge of physics is invaluable in an (805) 893-5228 engineering environment.” students, we learned from highly principled and dedicated profes- [email protected] “Susie and I felt that a physics sors who transferred the value of background was extremely learning to their students. Our valuable for the success we had,” hope is that this gift will help said Bruce, who retired last enhance the academic process for February from his position as vice faculty, students, and staff, and president for strategic manufactur- that quality people will continue ing technology at JDS Uniphase, to come to work and study at the largest supplier of optical UCSB.” components for the telecommuni- cations industry. It is the happy privilege of the physics department to have such “In addition, the research group I thoughtful alumni. “The Worster was in, with folks like Dave Chair in Experimental Physics,” 2 Institute, and a Wilson Fellowship Alan Heeger has been elected to Faculty News from Fermilab. the National Academy of Sciences. INCANDELA JOINS Election to the Academy is FACULTY AWARDS AND considered “one of the highest HIGH ENERGY GROUP honors that can be accorded to a Joseph Incandela joined the HONORS 2000–2001 U.S. scientist or engineer.” faculty last summer as a full Leon Balents was awarded a professor of physics. Previously, Packard Founda- Walter Kohn, professor emeritus he was a staff scientist at Fermi tion Fellowship and founding director of the National Accelerator Laboratory. for Science and Institute for Theoretical Physics, There, he led the design and Engineering for received honorary doctorates from construction of an instrument his work in Oxford and Rutgers universities in crucial to the discovery of the top theoretical 2001, as well as the Harvard quark: the first silicon vertex condensed Graduate School of Arts and detector to be used to study matter physics. Sciences Centennial Medal, collisions produced at a high- The fellowship provides $125,000 awarded for “contributions to energy proton-antiproton collider. a year for five years for Leon to society as they have emerged continue his work on from one’s graduate education.” “Joe brings to UCSB a tremen- nanoconductors, nanotubes, and Walter is a condensed matter dously exciting program at the novel magnetism. theorist who has made fundamen- high-energy frontier,” says Jeff tal contributions to our under- Richman, head of the high-energy France Cordova, who is vice standing of the electronic structure physics group. “He has an ex- chancellor of research as well as of materials. His many awards traordinary record of accomplish- professor of physics, was named a include the Niels Bohr/UNESCO ments as both a scientist and a laureate of the Kilby Awards Gold Medal, the National Medal of leader. He brings these talents to Foundation, which seeks to Science, and the 1998 Nobel Prize two of the most important experi- “identify, celebrate, and provide in chemistry. ments that will point the way in heroic role models for future high-energy physics for the next generations.” France was cited for James Langer has been elected decade and more.” establishing new paradigms in vice president of the National research across disciplines at Academy of As part of the CDF collaboration UCSB. In April 2002, France was Sciences. He at Fermilab, Joe and his research named chancellor of the Univer- began his four- group study collisions between sity of California’s Riverside year term in July quarks and antiquarks in the hope campus, and will begin her 2001. Jim was of achieving one of the main appointment July 1. elected to the goals of elementary particle Academy in 1985 physics: understanding why some Deborah Fygenson has been for his theoretical particles have mass. He is also named an Alfred P. Sloan Re- studies of pursuing experimental investiga- search Fellow. Described as “an nonequilibrium pattern formation, tions of string theory and extraordinarily particularly dendritic crystal supersymmetry. Since particle competitive growth. His current research physics experiments require many award,” the interests include the dynamics of years to plan and carry out, Joe’s fellowship carries earthquakes. group is building equipment for a with it a grant of future set of experiments at the $40,000 to Phil Lubin has been elected a Large Hadron Collider, now being support her Fellow of the American Physical constructed at CERN, the interna- research in Society, an honor reserved for no tional particle physics laboratory biological more than one-half of one percent near Geneva, Switzerland. physics. The focus of Deborah’s of the members in any given year. work is on understanding the Phil was cited for his pioneering Joe earned his BA (physics) and physical character of such experimental studies of the cosmic BS (math) from the University of counter-intuitive phenomena as background radiation, which have Chicago in 1981.
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