Physics and Astronomy Bill Brinkman Selected For
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Physics and Astronomy ommuniqué C Autumn 2017 Bill Brinkman Selected for Inaugural Alumni Award By Linda Godwin head of the Physics Research Divi- his early work included the theory he Department of Physics sion, later becoming physical sci- of spin fluctuations in metals and and Astronomy has estab- ences research vice president and other highly correlated Fermi liq- Tlished an annual alumni then vice president of research. uids. His subsequent theoretical award for either mid- or lifetime Brinkman joined Princeton Uni- work on liquid crystals and incom- career exceptional achievement, versity in 2001, playing an impor- mensurate systems contributed to research, and service. tant role in organizing and guiding the theoretical understanding of We are pleased to condensed matter. announce that Wil- Brinkman has long liam (Bill) Brink- served as a leader man, a highly distin- of the physics com- guished condensed- munity, including matter physicist and as president of the department alumnus, American Physical is the first recipient Society in 2002 and of the Distinguished on numerous na- Alumni Lifetime Ca- tional committees, reer Award. including chairing Brinkman re- the National Acad- ceived his doctor- emy of Sciences’ ate in physics from Physics Survey, the the University of eight-volume col- Missouri in 1965. lection known as the His career since has “Brinkman Report.” spanned innovative He is a member of research and high- Alumnus William F. Brinkman, shown addressing an Accelerators the National Acad- level management for America’s Future symposium, will be the first recipient of the emy of Sciences, the and leadership. Distinguished Alumni Lifetime Career Award. American Academy He joined Bell of Arts and Sciences, Laboratories in 1966 after spend- the physics department’s condensed and a past president of the Ameri- ing one year as a National Science matter group. He was nominated can Physical Society. He was a re- Foundation postdoctoral fellow by President Barack Obama and cipient of the 1994 George E. Pake at Oxford University. He left Bell confirmed by the senate to head Prize. Labs in 1984 to serve as vice presi- the Department of Energy’s Office Future nominations for this dent of U.S. Department of Ener- of Science in June 2009, where he award will be solicited from current gy’s Sandia National Laboratories. served until 2013. and emeritus faculty and alumni. Brinkman returned to Bell Labora- Brinkman’s research involved tories in 1987, where he served as theories of condensed matter, and 2 Communiqué guished Alumni Award. Each year, a member of our alumni will be honored the hair with this accolade for his or her mid- career or lifetime achievement. The honoree will receive an award plaque Dear Physics Alumni and Friends, ment. All of these new additions bring and travel expenses for the honoree Despite the challenges and upheav- important expertise to our depart- and a guest. The first recipient of the als that the university has faced over ment. At the same time, we lost Pro- award will be Bill Brinkman, PhD ’65, the past few years, the Department fessor Peter Pfeifer to retirement this a theoretical condensed-matter physi- of Physics and As- year. Peter retired after 30-some years cist who has had an illustrious career tronomy continues of service to the department, during culminating in service as the head of to do well, under which he also served as chair for six the U.S. Department of Energy Of- the circumstanc- years. We wish Peter success in his fice of Science prior to his retirement es, and we remain new endeavors during retirement. in 2013. We look forward to present- cautiously optimis- Our graduate student number has ing him with this award at the Physics tic for the future. remained stable, fluctuating between Leaders’ meeting this October. The productivity 50 and 55 students per year over the On behalf of the department, I sin- of our faculty and past decade. We admitted eight new cerely thank the physics alumni, lead- students remains graduate students this semester, mak- ers, and friends for their continued high, and our fac- ing the total 54 for the current aca- support. Generous donations over Department ulty continue to demic year. We have 110 declared the years continue to build a strong Chair Sashi reach milestones undergraduate physics majors this foundation for the department, which Satpathy and garner impres- year, down slightly from 120 last year. helps us in both good times and bad. sive awards, many The department has some 18 post- Additionally, we appreciate that our of which are listed in the body of the doctoral fellows working with various alumni and friends show continuous newsletter. faculty members. interest in and provide encourage- An important achievement has Despite the budget cut that has re- ment for our new and ongoing work. been the hiring of three new faculty duced support to all departments at This continued commitment to the members over the past three years. MU, including physics, by about 12 department’s well-being is truly in- I am happy to report that our faculty percent, the department has been valuable and deeply appreciated. search last year was successful. As- able to maintain its activities thanks to Wishing you all continued personal sistant Professor Yicheng Guo, with the new revenue streams such as the and professional success in the up- specialization in observational astron- supplemental fees and online teach- coming year, omy, has just joined the department ing and generous donations from this fall. Professor David Singh, an in- alumni and friends. Last year, we es- ternationally recognized condensed- tablished the Jim Fergason Graduate matter theorist, and Guang Bian, an Student Fellowship, which supports Sashi Satpathy up-and-coming condensed-matter an incoming graduate student for a Chair and Curators’ Distinguished experimenter, joined us last fall. Also year. We also created a Staff Recog- Professor of Physics beginning this fall, Bowen Loftin, for- nition Fund for non-academic staff in mer MU chancellor, became a full- the department. Finally, we instituted fledged faculty member in the depart- a new award this year: the Distin- joining MU, he worked as a postdoc Guo’s research focuses on how gal- Welcome, at the University of California, Santa axies, such as our own Milky Way, Cruz. Guo is an observational astrono- were formed and evolved from small, Yicheng Guo! mer, using ground-based and space- irregular blobs in the early universe based telescopes to study distant into today’s massive systems with Assistant galaxies. He was involved in propos- diverse morphology. He is particu- Professor ing and designing CANDELS (Cosmic larly interested in how star formation Yicheng Guo Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extra- activity is turned on and off in galax- obtained galactic Legacy Survey), the largest ies. He is now using CANDELS and his doctor- survey program of the Hubble Space other deep HST extragalactic surveys ate from the Telescope (HST), and then served to measure the mass, star-formation University of as the leader of its multi-wavelength rate, metal abundance, and morphol- Massachu- working group, managing the efforts ogy of distant low-mass galaxies, setts Am- of generating photometric catalogs for which are believed to be the progeni- herst. Before CANDELS. Continues on next page Autumn 2017 3 Nanotechnology a “Green” Approach to Treating Liver Cancer By Jeff Hoelscher, previously gold nanoparticles and pho- published in MU Health on- tothermal therapy caused line, February 2017 no change to healthy tissue, According to the American which confirmed the safe Cancer Society, more than use of these treatments,” 700,000 new cases of liver Katti said. “However, the cancer are diagnosed world- use of gum Arabic-encap- wide each year. Currently, the sulated nanoparticles com- only cure for the disease is to bined with photothermal surgically remove the cancer- therapy resulted in the tar- ous part of the liver or trans- geted eradication of the pre- Justin Kelley, MU Health Justin Kelley, plant the entire organ. How- cancerous cells and their ge- ever, an international study Curators’ Professor of Radiology and Physics Kattesh netic code in both our mice led by University of Missouri Katti working at the MU School of Medicine. model and the human-invi- School of Medicine research- tro-cell model we developed ers has proven that a new minimally “Gum Arabic is a natural gum made for this study.” invasive approach targets and de- of the hardened sap from acacia Katti said the next step for further stroys precancerous tumor cells in the trees,” said Katti, who also serves as developing the technique into a can- livers of mice and invitro human cells. director of the MU Institute of Green cer treatment for humans will be a “The limitations when treating most Nanotechnology and is the Margaret clinical trial. forms of cancer involve collateral dam- Proctor Mulligan Distinguished Pro- “The components for this new age to healthy cells near tumor sites,” fessor of Medical Research at the therapy are inexpensive, do not have said Kattesh Katti, Curators’ Professor MU School of Medicine. “It is FDA- any issues associated with a shelf-life of Radiology and Physics at the MU approved for human consumption and and are easy to produce,” Katti said. School of Medicine and Department is primarily used in the food industry “Most importantly, it does not involve of Physics and Astronomy, and lead as an additive. It also promotes adhe- the use of harsh chemotherapy drugs author of the study. “For more than sion of gold nanoparticles engineered or radiation. It is a ‘green’ approach a decade, we have studied the use to attract to precancerous and malig- that also may lead to successful treat- of nanotechnology to test whether nant cells—which are much more sus- ment of other forms of cancer.” targeted treatments would reduce or ceptible to lower levels of heat than The study, “Photothermal Therapy eliminate damage to nearby healthy healthy cells.