California nstitute of Technology P asa d ena, C a li fo rni a 91125

C h a n ge se r v i ce req u es t ed

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v 0 I u m e 4 0, N u m b e r I

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I n T h 5 I 5 5 U e

Another Side of the Scientist of the Year

Saving the Everglades

Changing with the Times

and

Techers Invade Tinsel Town, Sort of Volume 40, Number I 200 6

Cal fornia Institute of Technology c a I t e c h - •

Baker's Dozen with Kip Thorne 3 The astrophysicist talks about his life in and Out of science.

Reversing the Tide in the Everglades 8 Oregon State's Wilyne Huber oversees the federal review of an unprecedented $10.5 billion rescue plan.

Also in this issue New positions, new gifts, Techers and the Times; and the Rovers (on the back­ page poster) ON THE COVER It may look like a colored Japanese woodblock print, but this image of a chorus of cedar waxwings was Picture Credits: Cover-Gail Anderson & Doug Cummings; 2-Michael Rogers; 3-Cathy Hill; actually photographed on the Caltech campus (the birds are clustered in a western sycamore tree out­ 4,5,6, lO ,ll,13-Bob Paz; 8,9-Wayne Huber; 8,9,12-South Florida Warer Management Disrrict; 10- side Avery Center) and then treated with an artistic 1964 Big T & Doug Cummings; LO-New York Times; 11, Back Cover-NASA/JPL images. Baek Page filter to enhance the ethereal Pacific Rim effect. The Poster design by Doug Cummings waxwings, which have a reputation for congregating picturesquely in large numbers, evidently found the Issued four times a year and published by the California Institute of Technology and the Alumni campus a congenial habitat in February. An article Association, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, California 911 25. All ri ghts reserved. Third about another peerless habitat-this one, across the class postage paid at Pasadena, California. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Calteeh News, country in Florida-and a Caltech alumnus who has Cal tech 1-71 , Pasadena, CA 91125. taken a lead role in Everglades-preservation efforts, begins on page 8. Executive Editor - Heidi Aspaturian Ponzy Lu '64 Writer - Rhonda Hillbery President of the Alumni Association Writer - Michael Rogers Robert 1. O'Rourke Production Artist- Doug Cummings Vice President for Public Relations Contributors - Robert Tindol, Deborah Williams-Hedges Copy Editors - Emily Adelsohn, Michael Visit Cal tech News on the Web at Farquhar, Elena Rudnev http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/CaltechNews/ Cirmlation Manager - Susan Lee

HOLLYWOOD CUBES after a casting director sent the Caltech Besides, Mao says, "Caltech doesn't give Chess Club an e-mail about the show. you a full spectrum of experiences. I Tyson Mao, a senior astrophysics ma­ Besides his status as a Cal tech under­ thought that there would be things to jor, has gotten considerable on-camera graduate, Mao's claim to geekdom is learn outside of physics." And, lest you TELEGENIC TECHERS exposure lately and has been quite pro­ that he is a champ at solving Rubik's think he had no interest in meeting active about getting it. In January, Mao Cubes: those famous multicolored 3-D those "academically impaired" co-con­ If you're considering a career in appeared as a contestant on Beauty and plastic puzzles. He's been an avid player testants, he adds, "There are no women television, Cal tech is probably not the the Geek, a weekly reality show airing since 2003, and formed the Caltech to meet here at Caltech. This was a place to be. Science-compared to, say, on the WB Network. The show pairs Rubik's Cube Club in January 2004. He once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." sex-doesn't sell well. (Think Science real-life male nerds who are said to briefly held the world record for solving But the ladies had to be put on hold and the City or Desperate Scientists-it lack social skills with female beauties the puzzle blindfolded, until his time while Tyson spent an additional week lacks that certain something.) Despite described as "academically impaired." of one minute and 58.32 seconds was isolated in his hotel room, waiting the long odds, a few members of the The couples team up and compete topped in November by his protege­ for the show's producers to hammer Cal tech community have recently against one another in various games of Cal tech junior Leyan Lo--who did it in out the final details. He spent most of found themselves under or near those skill in an attempt to win $250,000. one minute and 46.48 seconds. his time playing his violin, working hot bright lights. Alas, Tyson and his partner, Thais, were Mao figures that his Cal tech and on physics problems and his Rubik's booted off the show after just three Rubik's Cube background must have Cube, watching television, and sitting episodes, but not intrigued the Beauty and the Geek casting through more interviews. . before Tyson had director, because he was invited to an On October 10, he met his fellow earned more than initial audition and then went through geeks-a variety of studious-looking his 15 minutes two more before he received a call on young men-and they were all driven of fame and had October 3 telling him that he had made to a luxurious house in Los Angeles, some fun too. the cut. Told to show up at a Manhattan where the show's taping got under way. Tyson applied Beach hotel the next day and to pack Beauties and geeks were introduced to be on Beauty as ifhe were on a five-week trip, Mao for the first time, and Tyson was paired and the Geek as a dropped one class to lessen the burden of up with Thais, a comely btunette de­ lark last summer, being away from his studies, and headed scribed by the show as a 22-year-old the next day for the hotel. model and aspiring stylist. Mao says that he has never been a Tyson spent 10 days in the house, fan of reality television. So why would sharing a room (and separate beds) Caltech cubists he voluntarily subject himself to the with Thais, under the constant gaze of Leyan Lo (left) and Tyson Mao take five special brand of ridicule dished out by a video camera. They participated in after an impromptu those shows? The prospect of splitting a challenge games with the other contes- round of Rubik's. quarter of a million dollars didn't hurt. Continued on page 5 ..

2 I California I nstitute of Technology · VOLU ME 40 No. I, 2006 B a k e r 5 o 0 zen w t h K p Thorne

This is the first in a new, occasional series in which Caltech News aims to highlight the less well-known sides of some prominent Caltechers by asking them 13 questions on topics somewhat off the beaten track. To inaugurate the feature, Caltech News writer Rhonda Hillbery sat down with Caltech 's Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics Kip Thorne '62, renowned in the scientific community for his research into gravitational physics and black holes, and known to the wider public as an articulate and engaging science popularizer. His first book for nonscientists, Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy, won the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award, the Phi Beta Kappa Science Writing Award, and the (Russian) Priroda Read­ ers' Choice Award. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973, among numer­ ous other honors, Thorne was named California Scientist of the Year in 2005. Cal tech News readers who would like to suggest a candidate for a future "Baker's Dozen" interview are invited to write to the editor at hja@caltech. edu.

How do you describe the mysteries of black holes, wormholes, and gravitational waves for the uninitiated?

Einstein told us that space and time are warped by the matter and energy that live in space-time, such as you, me, and the sun. The challenge of much of the work that my research group has been involved in is to understand the laws that govern that warping of space and time, and especially to understand how warped space-time be­ haves when it's very stormy. It's as though we had seen the surface of the ocean when it is very smooth and quiescent, and we'd never seen a storm, a whirlpool, never that sort, but they tear me apart inside. I'm fundamentally an introvert. I behave like seen a waterspout, or violently crashing waves. The challenge is to see phenomena in an extrovert when I have to. warped space-time that are analogous to crashing waves on the ocean. So that is what I intend to make a career change in a few years because I can only imagine myself I've been after for most of my career. continuing to do very good physics research and mentoring students for another 10 What is the most interesting question about the universe? years or so. But I can also imagine myself as a very good writer and continuing that into my nineties, so I plan to make a transition of careers into writing. Not right away but gradually, beginning in a few years. In some ways, my former student Alan The most interesting question is to understand clearly the laws that govern the Li?"htman [PhD '74J is my inspiration. He is very diverse, from writing poetry and birth of the universe and what happened in the first fraction of a second as both the SCIence essays, to novels, as well as having pursued a very successful career as an as­ universe and the fundamental laws in their present form came into being. trophysicist. What do you consider the most interesting question about humanity's existence?

Whether there is intelligent life in the universe besides humanity itself. The challenge of understanding what other forms of life there are elsewhere, particularly intelligent life. When I was young I imagined pursuing politics} .

What is your greatest accomplishment as a scientist? but as I've grown older I've realized I'm not emotionally

The training of a new generation of physicists who work on trying to understand suited for that. the roles of warped space-time in the universe. My students, even just as students, before they went out into the world as mature scientists, have done more really im­ portant research than I have. What would you like to write? Can you name a few ofyour student standouts? There are things I'd like to write at the popular-science level, and also some tech­ nical things. I also would like to try my hand at fiction. Whether I could do that suc­ There have been so many, it's hard to name any single student, but examples include cessfully I don't know, but I would enjoy trying. As for technical things, I wrote but Saul Teukolsky, who got his PhD in 1974 and is a pioneer of numerical relativity. At never published a monograph on gravitational waves that I would like to resurrect, Cornell, he's now the Hans Bethe Professor of Physics and Astrophysics and chair of update, and publish. And unless somebody else does it in the next few years, I would the physics department. As a graduate student he developed the mathematical theory like to write a successor to the classic textbook on general relativity, Gravitation, that of small perturbations of the warped space and time around black holes. That theory is I coauthored in 1973 with Charles Misner and John Wheeler. Remarkably, there has now the foundation for much of the modeling we do of gravity-wave sources. not really been a replacement at the advanced level. The subject has changed enor­ I've had something like 50 PhD students. Many of them have wound up pursuing mously since 1973. So a completely fresh text is needed. It has been needed for 10 or academIc careers, but some have pursued careers in other areas. One Cal tech trustee 15 years but nobody has managed to write one. who was a superb student is David Lee [PhD '74}; he went into business and founded Global Crossing. Another is Walter De Logi [PhD '78J who is a major entrepreneur Are there political or social issues that you care about? in biotech [he's a founder of CeresJ, who did his thesis jointly with me and with Charlie Papas. Some students have come here for a PhD in theoretical physics, gone On social issues I am a liberal Democrat, if you want to put a label on me. But a to busmess school and then out in the business world. They say many years later that liberal Democrat who is aghast at fiscal irresponsibility. And so I share fiscal views to their Caltech physics training was more valuable to them than business school be­ a great extent with my conservative Republican friends. My mother got a PhD in eco­ cause in physics they learned how to think and analyze issues and problems. nomics in the mid 1930s. She was not allowed to teach at Utah State University, in the What is your career path not taken? town where I grew up, because my father was a professor there. There were nepotism laws to prevent both husband and wife being employed by the state. So she pursued a life of political activism, started the antipoverty program in our area, and Head Start. When I was young I imagined pursuing politics, but as I've grown older I've real­ She was elected to the school board and was its chair for many years until she led an ized I'm not emotionally suited for that. I'm fairly good at dealing with things of Continued on page 6 . .

3 I Caltech NewJ DIMOTAKIS NAMED JPL CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST

with JPL as a Cal tech undergraduate, BROAD FELLOWS PROGRAM IN BRAIN CIRCUITRY working on the Orbital Geophysical WILL FUND PIONEERING WORK IN NEUROSCIENCE Observatory-C satellite with then­ physics professor and later JPL director For years, scientists have worked feature of this program is that it wi ll Ed Stone. Dimotakis has also worked to study each of the 100 billion nerve provide talented young researchers with on the Space Shuttle, the Mars Path­ finder, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and cells, or neurons, in the human brain. a borderless research environment from the analysis of the shuttle But while they understand individual which to pursue programs from differ­ Columbia's failure. He has consulted for aerospace neurons, they've been stumped by how ent perspectives." companies, Disney, Lawrence Livermore neurons work together, how they en­ Koch and his colleagues will hire 3 code information, and how they gener­ the first two Broad Fellows in Brain Laboratory, and the successful America ate thoughts, emotions, and actions. Circuitry later this year, and will hire sail design for the 1992 America's Cup. At JPL, Dimotakis will have respon­ That pioneering area of study is two more in 2007 and an additional behind the Broad Fellows Program two in 2008. Each of the fellows will sibility for planning, implementing, in Brain Circuitry that has been es­ receive funding to hire up to three as­ and leadi ng the Lab's technology strat­ egy, providing intellecrualleadership tablished at Cal tech through an $8.9 sistants, for a total of 24 researchers in for the Laboratory in the strategic plan­ million grant from the Broad Founda­ the program, which will be housed in Paul Dimotakis '68, PhD '73, ning of technology projects, managing tions and philanthropist Eli Broad. Caltech's Division of Biology. Cal tech's Northrop Professor of Aero­ The funding will enable the program "Each of the fellows will be able to nautics and professor of applied phys­ technology and support personnel, and to establish six new neuroscience labs devote up to five years to their projects, ics, became the new the chief technolo­ overseeing technology research col­ laborations with various universities, at the Institute and hire 24 researchers without having to worry about finding gist for JPL on January 30, succeeding including Cal tech. over the next five years. another postdoctoral appointment in a Professor of Mechanical Engineering "Caltech is one of the country's year or two or limiting themselves only Erik Antonsson, who has just complet­ In a letter announcing Dimotakis's greates t research institutions, and this to research that will lead to tenure," ed his three-year term in the position. appointment, JPL director Charles Elachi, PhD '71, thanked Antonsson program will encourage some of the Koch said. "These researchers will be Over the next three years, Dimotakis for his many contributions during his brightest young minds in science to at a level between postdocroral fellow will split his time between his new time as chief technologist and said that devote their research to unlocking the and assistant professor, which means responsibilities at JPL and his research he looks forward "to the benefit of his mysteries of the brain," said Broad, (hat they will be very independent and program on campus. counsel during his new appoin·tment as founder of the Broad Foundations. won't have to worry about the tenure Dimotakis joined the Caltech faculty a JPL distinguished visiting scientist. Although scientists have made clock." the year he earned his PhD and steadily There are many accomplishments that tremendous progress in recent years "The freedom that comes with these moved up the academic ladder to be­ can be pointed to during Erik's term in understanding the brain's overall fellowships should foster quite produc­ come the Northrop Professor in 1995. . ... perhaps, most importantly, the activity, the interactions between neu­ tive interactions among fellows and His research has focused on superfluidi­ development and publication of the rons-which hold the clues to mental members of the Caltech community," ty, turbulent flow phenomena, combus­ Lab's first Strategic Technology Plan. diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism, says Dickinson. "An important role of tion, hypersonic flow and propulsion, This document will serve as a guide for and schizophrenia-are still a mystery. the selection committee will be to re­ laser diagnostics, high-speed image future technology decisions in the com­ "We have no idea how these neu­ cruit a diverse array of young research­ data acquisition, and computational ing years." rons are assembled in groups of 50 ers with complementary skills." adaptive optics. He first got involved to 100,000 to generate conscious The program is designed to give re­ thoughts," said Christof Koch, Troen­ searchers the freedom and flexibility to dle Professor of Cognitive and Behav­ advance their work in whatever way is ioral Biology and Professor of Compu­ most productive, and may include the tation and Neural Systems at Cal tech, development of specific technologies or who will serve as director of the Broad the invention of new instruments. The Fellows Program. "We truly believe Broad Fellows will be given individual that the best way to learn about small space to do their work in the Beckman neuronal networks is to find a few bril­ Laboratories of Behavioral Biology on liant young neurobiologists, engineers, the Caltech campus. or physicists with innovative ideas on The program will be under the how to record and manipulate networks direction of Koch and a committee of nerve cells. Then, if we provide them of other Cal tech faculty members, with the funding for research assistants including Dickinson; Gilles Laurent, and equipment to develop the relevant the Hanson Jr. Professor of Biology technologies, all we need to do is get and Computation and Neural Systems; out of their way." David Anderson, the Sperry Professor "Neuroscience is becoming an in­ of Biology; Barbara Wold, director of creasingly multidisciplinary exercise," the Beckman Institute at Caltech and said Michael Dickinson, Zarem Profes­ Bren Professor of Molecular Biology; sor of Bioengineering at Caltech, who and Mark Konishi, the Bing Professor will serve on the selection committee of Behavioral Biology. for the Broad Fellows Program. "Fu­ ture progress will depend on a creative mixture of expertise in biology, engi­ neering, and mathematics. An exciting A violin trio, composed of (left to right) physics major Leyan Lo '07 and graduate students John Keith (chemistry) and Colette Salyk (planetary science) took part in the festivities at the Institute's Music and Art Program Open House in February. The event showcased the campus's new music facilities at 30S S. Hill Avenue, which include five soundproofed practice rooms, two additional practice rooms, and two music faculty offices. A former garage behind the main house has been converted into choral music offices and a library. Rehearsal space is open to Caltech undergraduates and grad students, as well as other participants in the music program courses. Officially opened last October, the Music House will serve as home base for the music program until the proposed Campus Center is built. Program facilities also include the Art Chateau, located behind the Caltech Theater Arts House and a recording studio in Winnett Center.

4 I California I nstitute of Technology • VOLUME 4 0 No. I, 2 006 Telegenic. from page 2

RICHARD MURRAY DENISE NELSON NASH tants-the men were typically asked NAMED TO HEAD 1ST NAMED ASSISTANT VP questions about fashion, design, and FOR PUBLIC EVENTS popular culture, while the women were A mere few months after he stepped quizzed about more academic subjects. down as chair of the engineering and He had to decorate a room and study for applied science division so that he a fashion-and-interiors quiz (he aced it), could devote more time to his teaching and he even won a karaoke contest. But and research, Richard Murray '85 is ultimately, he was done in by Thais's back in the administrative spotlight as inability to answer enough technology the new director of the Institute's Infor­ questions correctly, despite Tyson's in­ mation Science and Technology initia­ tensive tutorial. tive (1ST). What's the 411 on that? Although he only got paid $50 a day It came down, says Murray, to an for his efforts-well below Screen Ac­ opportunity he couldn't refuse. As 1ST tors Guild scale-Tyson says he's glad director, he will oversee a unique pto­ he did it. "It was a lot of fun meeting g ram in which information is regarded new people," he says. "It was unscripted, "as a kind of fundamental entity that be an asset in his new job, he points to so they let us do whatever we wanted." you think about in the same way that some crucial differences. "1ST doesn't Was it difficult to be in the house with you think about biology, physics, and have the bureaucratic baggage that you cameras trained on him for days? 'Tm other scientific disciplines," and will find with any long-established academ­ not sure what was the hardest part. playa key role in establishing Caltech ic entity. You're working, in a sense, Everything was one big blur of adjust­ with fewer walls, and there are more Denise Nelson Nash, director of as a leader in an exciting new field. Caltech Public Events (CPE) since ing. I'm not sure if! changed socially. 1ST was established as the first inte­ opportunities to experiment and inno­ In order to see, I'll have to test my new vate." There's also the appeal of head­ 1998, has been named the Institute's grated research and teaching activity in assistant vice president for public skills outside Caltech." the country that investigates informa­ ing up a new activity "that ties in di­ Mao had hardly departed Geek when rectly with what I do" as a professor of events. As head of CPE, Nash has tion from all angles-from the funda­ overseen comprehensive university he resurfaced in a cameo role in another mental theoretical underpinnings of control and dynamical systems, another WB show called Twim, playing-what intensely interdisciplinary field, whose programs in public events, community information to the science, engineering, outreach, and performing arts, as well else?-a geek. He also managed to parlay and interactive dynamics of fields as applications range from getting a bet­ his new media savvy into an appearance ter handle on electoral politics to engi­ as special exhibition programs and seemingly disparate as neural networks, visits by dignitaries, including Presi­ on The Tonight Show. That came out of quantum computation, and economic neering cars that can drive themselves a Rubik's Cube competition that he or­ from Barstow, California, to Vegas. dent Bill Clinton. Her responsibilities decision making. Murray is quick to also include coordinating and staffing ganized in San Francisco in January. His note that much of the initial intel­ In announcing Murray's appoint­ classmate, Leyan Lo-whom Mao had ment, David Rutledge (who succeeded the Campus Art Committee, as well as lectual heavy lifting has been done by overseeing filming on campus and at introduced to Rubik's Cube competitions his colleague and 1ST founding direc­ him as E&AS chair) expressed "deep two years ago-went along and stole his thanks and appreciation to Shuki CIT2 (formerly St. Luke Hospital). tor Jehoshua (Shuki) Bruck and the Prior to joining the Institute in mentor's spotlight when he set a new faculty involved in the program's six Bruck, who was the driving force in world record, solving the cube in 11.13 creating this campus-wide initiative." 1998, Nash spent seven years as execu­ founding research centers-biological tive director of the City of Pasadena's seconds. By the following Monday, Lo circuit design, social and information Shuki (nobody on campus calls him found himself bombarded with interview Bruck much less Jehoshua) stepped cultural planning division, and before sciences, the physics of information, the that she was director of the Plaza de la requests. The physics major turned nearly mathematics of information, advanced down as 1ST head, be it noted, to all of them down, including competing devote more time to his teaching and Raza School of Performing Arts in Los networking, and neuromorphic systems Angeles. offers from NBC's Today Show and ABC's engineering. research, but will continue to take a Good Morning, America, both of which of­ keen interest in the maturation of his A graduate of Scripps College in As he leads 1ST into the second Claremont, California, Nash holds fered to fly him to New York City. phase of its development, Murray says brainchild. "I had school work and didn't want "Having faculty like Shuki around an MFA from the Rackham School he is focused on three principal goals. of Graduate Studies, University of the publicity," Lo says. "I also thought First is recruiting "the right type of will be very important," says Murray, the attention was undeserved, because I adding that he looks forward to bring­ Michigan. Her recent honors include people"-outstanding faculty and the 2005 Raymond Pitts Human Rela­ wasn't even the winner of the competi­ graduate students whose work within ing many researchers together in pro­ tion," since the world record was one of ductive 1ST collaborations. tions Award from the Pasadena Hu­ the existing campus divisions can be man Relations Commission; the 2004 five scores that were then averaged, leav­ directly related to information studies Alkebu-lan Humanitarian Award from ing him in second place overall. and whose research accomplishments ' For a detailed report on 1ST, published Pasadena's Alkebu-lan Cultural Center' But Lo did end up on the Tonight will put the new Cal tech program in the winter 2005 issue of Caltech's Show. After he turned down an initial research magazine, Engineering & the 2002 Women at Work Medal of ' definitively on the map. Second is Excellence from the Pasadena Women invitation, the producers called Mao, "thinking through the educational Science, go to http;llpr.caltech.edulperiodi­ who promptly accepted. When Lo, who calsIEandSIESarchive-frame.html. Scroll at Work organization; and the 2002 side" by collaborating with faculty to 27th Congressional District Woman of describes himself as "pretty shy," heard down to "Volume 68, Numbers 1 & 2 II develop a graduate and undergradu- the Year Award. that Mao would be appearing on the ate curriculum related to 1ST. Third and select either the pdf or html versio~ of show, he decided to go along. is guiding 1ST through the construc­ "TMI, Meet 1ST. II While Beauty and the Geek manag­ tion of its furure home, the Walter and es-just barely-to convey the message Leonore Annenberg Center for Informa­ that being smart can be cool, Tonight tion Science and Technology, funded Show host Jay Leno was content to tweak with a $25 million gift from the BALTIMORE NAMED PRESIDENT-ELECT OF AAAS Mao and Lo for a few laughs. Shortly Annenberg Foundation. after introducing the duo, he challenged 1ST has also received a substantial Caltec~ president David Baltimore has been named president-elect of Lo to show off his fast fingerwork by infusion-$22.2 million--of what the Amencan Association for the Advancement of Science, an international unhooking the bras worn by five women Murray calls "intellectual seed fund­ non~rofit organization "dedicated to advancing science around the world by who suddenly materialized on stage clad ing" from the Gordon and Betty Moore servlOg as ,an educator, leader, spokesperson, and professional association." only in pants and scarlet brassieres. Lo Foundation, to support the develop­ Baltimore s one-year term, which began in February '06, is a prelude to his accomplished the feat in eight seconds ment of its programmatic elements one-year term as AAAS president, which will commence in February '07. before he, Mao, and the females (whose over both the short and long term. For an up-to-date ltst of awards and honors bestowed recently upon Caltech famlty backs remained resolutely turned to the While Murray's five years' experi­ and staff, go to http;lltoday.caltech.edultodaylon-campus.tcl and scroll down to Honors audience) were ushered off stage. ence as a division chair will certainly and Awards in the right-hand column, as well as to the Archives link in that section. "I guess they invited me on the show so Jay could insult me for five minutes but that's his job, so I don't hold it ' Continued on pa g e 6 . ..

5 I Caltech News T ele ge ni c . . . from pa ge 5 Th o r ne . . . fr om p age 3 against him," says Lo, who was hardly Fleinhardt flexed their brainpower at such anti-Vietnam War protest march. In the next election she got defeated by the largest star struck by the experience. While he Cal tech landmarks as the Braun running margin in the history of the valley. When she died, the banner headlines in the local met several other Tonight Show guests track and the campus bookstore. newspaper read "Old Radical Dies," because she had been such a strong liberalizing behind the scenes, he doesn't remember Lorden notes that he is not spending force in a very conservative community. She was a highly respected person who had their names. as much time on Numb3rs now that the pushed hard on social issues, women's issues, issues of the poor. I care about the same Although both Mao and Lo say that show has hired its own math researcher. issues, but I haven't put the kind of heart and soul into them that she did. they are not planning to chuck their "Before, I had to go write equations on Cal tech education and get an agent, a blackboard," he recalls of the early Could you talk about your early influences? they have been contacted to appear on days working with Cheryl Heuton and a revival of the classic game show, I've Nicolas Falacci, the creative team be­ Up to age eight I wanted to be a snowplow driver. I grew up in a high mountain Got a Secret. Notoriety aside, Mao has hind the show. valley in Utah-Cache Valley-and during the winter of 1948 there was very heavy applied to graduate school to pursue But he doesn't mind the change, say­ snowfall, and these snowplows going down the street in front of our house pushed a career in astrophysics, while Lo says ing that this way he has more time to the snow banks up to heights of 10 feet or so. The power of the snowplow driver was that he is happy to focus on his studies. devote to "finding the best possible math really awesome to a small child. ''I'm old news now," he says, as he deftly and science material. Now I am concen­ But in the spring of that year my mother took me to a lecture about the solar unscrambles yet another Rubik's Cube trating on the juicy stuff. It's a neat thing system by a professor of geology. I was totally enchanted by the idea of the sun and puzzle. "After the first week, the media to help CBS and Paramount portray what the planets, so she then began doing astronomy projects with me. She got a list of attention dried up, which is as it should people here do--math and science that the diameters of the sun and the planets and the distances between them, sat me be." has a great impact on the world." down, and together we did calculations to scale. She showed me how to calculate This season, the crimes are thorny as how big the earth should be if the sun were four feet in diameter, and how big MIKE ROGEHS ever, and sometimes grisly, from human should be the distance between the sun and the earth. So we worked this all out and organ trafficking to gang then we went out on the sidewalk in front of our house. We drew a four-foot sun in shootings in the streets of chalk and then we took a long tape measure and measured down the block to where Los Angeles. But always, Mercury was, which was in front of the neighbors' house, Venus was twO houses on math helps our heroes down, the earth was near the end of the block, and Pluto was in the next town. And save the day. these planets were so tiny! Lorden, who enjoys That opened my eyes up to the great stretches of space in the universe and started being able to touch base me on the way to getting books out of the library, buying paperback books about with the show during astronomy and then later about physics, about relativity and so forth. So that's a large campus shoots, has done part of why I'm here today. lunch at Chandler with David Krumholtz, who Ifyou could give one piece ofad vice to today 's Caltech student, what w ould it be? plays Charlie. Another time the actor invited To undergraduates I would say, you're living in an artificial environment where him to lunch on the set. the pressure is intense, your peers are brilliant, and you see yourselves competing One day, Krumholtz even with them. You should try to put that competition away; make it not affect you, showed up at the math and focus instead on simply learning and enjoying science. This is a totally artificial professor's office to confer environment. You'll never be in this situation again. When you leave Caltech, you about episode sugges­ will find yourself surrounded by more ordinary mortals. Now, that's a weird kind of Taking a break from filming on location near Chandler dining tions that would place his advice, but I have seen too many talented undergraduates get discouraged and drop hall , David Krumholtz (right) gives his best impersonation of character more often in out, either actually or spiritually. a mathematical pedant for a suitably impressed Gary Lorden. the classroom, teaching. My main advice, then, is to focus on enjoying science. Make your learning of sci­ They've also joked about ence something that reaches out beyond your studies and into the world more broad­ who's got less space­ ly. Keep up with what's going on outside of your own areas of study. Maintain your THE NUMB3RS GAME Krumholtz in his trailer or intellectual curiosity and learn thereby how to function like a real scientist rather Lorden in his Cal tech office. than just focusing on the narrow, particular areas that are involved in your course­ Cal tech is also staying in the spot­ Math educators are also enthusiastic work-or in your dissertation, if you are a grad student. light through the continued success about the popular series and its potential of a TV series that truly celebrates tie-ins to their favorite subject. A new What was the last nonscientific book you read? geekish brainiacs-Numb3rs. And outreach program utilizing the Numb3rs the Institute's newly liberalized film­ tagline, "We All Use Math Every Day," The Children by David Halberstam: a history of the civil rights movement in the ing policies make it possible for the has been developed by Texas Instru­ South and the roles of young people in it. Cal tech-inspired show to be filmed on ments in association with the National campus during the academic week for Council of Teachers of Mathematics What do you do to relax? the first time. (NCTM). The program provides down­ "The writers and actors are really loadable secondary-school lesson plans At night just to get my mind off things and go to sleep, I flip through channels thrilled that they can shoot here," says that tie directly into the episodes. on the TV in a mindless sort of a way. That's because there are so many things go­ professor Gary Lorden '62, who serves as Since Numb3rs debuted in January ing on in my mind from the day. I scuba dive, but not very much. I ski, but not very math consultant to the show. "Caltech 2005, its audience has steadily grown, much. I have a home on the Oregon coast that my wife and my brother and I have is the real place that this Story is based along wi th the length of Charlie's hair. built; I just hide out there, do physics, write, hike, and run on the beach. For me, around. So they've in some sense re­ This season the show has frequently relaxing is simply getting away from people and having quiet time to myself. My turned to where they shot the pilot and landed in what Lorden is happily call­ wife and I take a major vacation every few years. We did a 20-day foot safari in East the place that is their symbolic home." ing the "magical top 20" in the Nielsen Africa a while back. We're hoping to do several weeks in Kamchatka [Russia} at Caltech's recent film-policy changes ratings. 'Tm hoping it will stay there," some point in the not toO distant future. We have enjoyed sailing in the Adriatic Sea stem from administration efforts to he says. "That will give the show more with Walter De Logi and other friends. The sea can be so calming! raise funds and reduce a structural defi­ media attention, thereby giving math cit (previously, production crews could and science more attention." Do you believe in God or a "higher power"? not use the campus on weekdays during RHONDA HILLBERY the academic term). So in recent weeks, No. I lost interest in religion many years ago, when it became evident to me that Numb3rs fans strolling around campus religion is far less effective in dealing with the world and improving the lives of people More information is available at the (it's called CalSci in the show) have had than science is, and when I developed a strong aversion to believing things on pure official Numb3rs website, http;llwww.cbs. ample opportunities to enjoy watching faith. My parents instilled in me a strong moral compass based not on religion, but on comlprimetimelnumb3rsl. For an earlier on-location filming near venues that humanism-and on an appreciation for the rights of others to think differently, believe Caltech News article on Lorden's role include Millikan Pond, Throop Site, differently. Despite the woes of the world, I see that humans have an enormous capacity behind the scences, visit http;llpr.caltech. Parsons-Gates, and the student houses. for good, an enormous capacity to help each other achieve better and richer lives. In one episode this season that cen­ edulperiodicalslCaltechNewsl, click on the tered on the theft of a DNA synthesizer, Article Archive link, and scroll down to CalSci professors Charlie Eppes and Larry Crime and Computation.

6 I C a l iforn i a I nst i tllte of T ec h no l ogy · VOLUME 4 0 No. I, 2006 Chemistry major Tim Dong '06 explains his SURF research into the synthesis of the telo­ mestat in molecule-a potential new fo rm of chemot herapy-to there's only one.caltech SURF director Carolyn Ash. A semifinalist in THE CAMPAIGN t he SURF Perpall Speak­ ing Competition in 2004, Tim has already published in CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS Fellowship in environmental engi­ the journal Organome­ neering. The foundation has selected tallic Letters. Momentum in the Institute's Tapio Schneider, assistant professor of "There's only one. Cal tech" campaign environmental science and engineer­ continues to build, with new gifts and ing, as the recipient of the fellowship pledges totaling $1,107,665,231 (as for his research in the area of global SURF RIDES HIGH ON ENDOWMENTS WAVE of January 31) toward our $1.4 billion atmospheric conditions and the role goal. of atmospheric dynamics in long-term In a major initiative that will lead climate changes. Caltech's SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships) program is ex­ to bold new advances in the field of Additionally, two campaign-funded tremely pleased to report the successful conclusion of its endowment matching neuroscience, the Btoad Fellows Pro­ initiatives were celebrated on campus program! Last summer SURF announced that a Caltech alumnus and his wife had g ram in Brain Circuitry has been estab­ in recent months. On October 24, the donated matching funds of up to $50,000 to complement any gift or pledge of lished at Caltech through an $8.9 mil­ Institute held the inaugural Kavli Na­ $75,000 or more to create a named SURF endowment as part of the "There's only lion grant from the Broad Foundations noscience Institute symposium cover­ one. Caltech" campaign. Thanks to many generous donors, the program achieved a and philanthtopist Eli Broad. ing ongoing nanoscience research. The contribution total of more than $2.1 million! These named endowments will ensure The funding will enable the ptogram event featured physicist Theodor W. that Cal tech students continue to gain strong academic and professional advantages to establish six new neuroscience labs Haensch, who recently won the Nobel through doing research under the guidance of faculty mentors. at Caltech and hire 24 researchers over Prize in Physics. Research produced The following named SURF endowments have been created through the generous the next five years (see related story, by the Kavli Nanoscience Institute is gifts of alumni and others, together with the support of the extraordinary matching page 4). designed to further our understanding program. Endowments named for Caltech alumni include class years in brackets. The Cal tech Associates announced of the rules of nature as they apply to Robert T. Herzog ['56, ENG '64} SURF Endowment • Ernest R. RobertS SURF the co mpletion of the Associates dimensions with a few billionths of a Endowment (created by Karen Roberts '74 and James Sagawa) • Frank W. Wood CARMA fundraising challenge, rais­ meter and will have far-reaching appli­ [,42} SURF endowment (funded by Richard Cox, '42, MS '46, to honor his classmate ing $478,421 during 2005 toward the cations in photonics and biomedicine. and friend) · Edward W. Hughes SURF Endowment • Samuel and Berta Spalter completion of the Combined Array for Lead funding for the Institute was SURF Endowment (created by Trustee Clara Miller '84 and husband Lee Miller in Research in Millimeter-wave Astrono­ provided by Fred Kavli and the Kavli memory of her parents) • Toni and Bob Perpall ['52, MS '56} SURF Endowment • my (CARMA). All 15 telescopes have Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Charles E1achi [PhD '71} and Valerie E1achi SURF Endowment • Nellie Bergen and been moved from OVRO and BIMA Moore Foundation. Adrian Foster Tillotson SURF Endowment (established by Mrs. Albert Burford in to the new CARMA site at Cedar Flat. The inauguration of the Geological honor of her mother and brother) • Mary P. and Dean C. Daily ['51} SURF endow­ The telescopes are already functioning, Sciences Computational Facility took ment • Soli Deo Gloria Endowment (given anonymously) • Harry B. Gray SURF and "first-light" ceremonies will take place on November 29. The public Endowment (created by Gray's former student Daniel Harris, PhD '73, and his wife) place in the spring. program was held in the Sharp Lecture • Stephen Adelman SURF Endowment (funded by Ken Adelman '86 and Gabrielle A host of other noteworthy contri­ Hall, followed by a tour and reception. Gordon Adelman '87) • The William Hassenzahl [,62} Family SURF • Karen Cutts butions are pushing forward campaign Containing one of the 10 most power­ and James Cutts (PhD '71} SURF Endowment • Mary Vodopia SURF Endowment objectives: ful computer clusters in the academic (contributed by Sam Vodopia '54 and Carol Hasson in memory of Sam's mother). The Gordon and Betty Moore Foun­ world, the facility will help research­ dation awarded an $8.8 million grant ers unlock the mysteries of powerful to create the Center for Cosmochemical and often devastating earthquakes by and Geochemical Microanalysis in the creating three-dimensional simulations Division of Geological and Planetary and models of the complex actions of Sciences. seismic events within the earth's inte­ An anonymous donor established a rior. Gifts of equipment from Dell and Associates Activities $1 million charitable remainder trust, Myricom, a grant from Intel Corp., which will ultimately endow the and support from the National Science All events will be held at the Athenaettm April 10, 2006, Associates Dinner and Eleanor Searle Visiting Professorship in Foundation are credited with mak- unless otherwise noted, and invitations Program-"Focus on SURF," an eve­ the History of Science for the Division ing the $5.8 million project possible. for each event will be mailed to Associates ning with Cal tech's SURF students. of Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. However, Cal tech is still seeking some members. For more information about the Eleanor Searle was the first woman at $800,000 to help complete funding for Associates, please contact Lori Brickner at May 3,2006, President's Circle Wine­ Cal tech to receive a named professor­ the facility. 6261395-3919 or at associates@caltech. Cellar Dinner, with Gary Lorden, pro­ ship. Ido Yavetz, assistant professor at edu. Visit our website at http://giving. fessor of mathematics and executive VANNESSA DODSON the Cohn Institute for History of Sci­ caltech.eduICAI. officer for mathematics. ence at Tel Aviv University in Israel has For more information abottt the Insti­ become the first Searle Visiting Scholar. April 8, 2006, Orange County Associ­ tute's "There's only one. Caltech" campaign, Ray Sidney Ex '91, made a ates Event-"Mummies: Death and please visit ottr website at http://one.ca ltech. $500,000 gift to establish the Ray­ the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt­ edu or contact the development office at mond M. Sidney Discovery Fund, sup­ Treas ures from the British Museum," 1-877 -CALTECH port the Undergraduate Sourh Housing with Jed Buchwald, Dreyfuss Profes­ project, and provide a matching gift sor of History. The Bowers Museum, challenge for the Alumni Fund, Class Santa Ana. of '91. Although he spent only one year of his academic career at Cal tech, the former Dabney House member is chan­ neling his support to address some of the Institute's most critical needs. The David and Lucile Packard Foun­ dation pledged $625,000 for a Packard

7 I Caltech News Wayne Huber, shown in front of an aerial pho­ to of an Everglades conservation area, heads a National Research Council committee that will report to Congress on technical progress in rescuing Florida's Everglades ecosystem.

T u r n n g t h e T d e n t h e E v e r g a d e s

By RHONDA HILLBERY

W hen Wayne Huber '63 was a little Florida," he says. The divergent inter­ will now step to the head of the line Everglades. We don't get those big out­ boy, one of his favorite pastimes in­ ests include those of housing devel­ for Florida's water rights. The initia­ flows into the Everglades anymore." volved turning on the backyard garden opers and municipalities, owners of tive reverses a decades-old practice of "Getting the water right," a CERP hose and seeing what happened. As vast expanses of sugarcane fields, and dumping 1.7 billion gallons offresh slogan, relies on about 68 individual he grew older his water projects grew environmental advocates such as the water daily into the sea, instead captur­ projects, all designed to deliver water, more complicated, and eventually he Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. ing 80 percent of it in reservoirs and in the proper quantities and quality, became a professor of water resources All of these stakeholders, and many wells to be returned to the ecosystem. to the right places at the right times. engineering at Oregon State University. more, influenced the restoration vision. The remaining 20 percent is slated for "The key is in storing and releasing the Now this self-described "wet civil The technical details were formulated supporting agriculture and bordering water," Huber says, adding that what engineer" finds himself overseeing a over six years by hundreds of sc ientists urban areas in the rapidly growing sounds simple is not. The "very tech­ high-level review of the most ambi­ and engineers who work for 30 agen- state. nologically sophisticated and complex tious environmental fix-it project ever In large part, the blueprint uses plan" was devised by hundreds of engi­ undertaken in the United States-one technology to accomplish what nature, neers, with input from scientists from in which water plays the leading role. That's one of the left to its own devices, once did natu­ federal and state agencies and universi­ As chair of a National Academy of Sci­ rally. "The natural system mastered ties, as well as environmentalists. ences committee charged with review­ biggest questions posed the process," Huber explains. "It put An equally important component is ing progress in the restoration of the the water where it was supposed to go. buying private land and returning it Everglades, he'll draw on skills honed by the restoration plan, Historically, the water would be stored to the Everglades ecosystem. The state over his 40-year career. in Lake Okeechobee, then every five of Florida has targeted nearly 500,000 Approved by Congress in 2000, the Huber says. ((If there or six years it would overflow into the acres for purchase, an expenditure ex­ $10.5 billion, 40-year Comprehensive pected to cost as much Everglades Restoration Plan (otherwise isn't enough water for as $2.77 billion. More known as CERP, rhymes with slurp) than half that acreage has to rescue south Florida's expansive and everyone, then who's already been purchased, endangered wetlands is by all measures but land prices are ris­ large-in budget, magnitude, and going to get it?" ing rapidly as population complexity. The federal government growth pushes demand and the state of Florida are sharing the for housing. hefty costs 50-50. Despite all the plan­ Correcting decades of mismanage­ cies, led by the U.S. Army Corps of ning, time, and effort ment in the Everglades, an enormous Engineers and the South Florida Water expended to date, most mosaic of marshes and sloughs inter­ Management District. of the actual work has yet spersed with forests of cypress and The project turns on its head to begin, underscoring mangrove, is of more than local inter­ more than a century of water policy the extraordinary degree est. "Everglades restoration is impor­ in Florida, where miles of canals and of technical coordination tant for the whole country, because the ditches have systematically starved and political compromise Everglades themselves are a unique the Everglade's once-thriving watery involved. Mtxlro national treasure," Huber says. With­ ecosystem. In simple terms, CERP sets out the rescue plan, "the Everglades out to capture and store the water now will continue to deteriorate, and with discarded daily through a maze of chan­ it the Everglades will move toward a nels and canals that flow into the Gulf more natural state. At some point yo u of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. This Much larger than Everglades can corne to the point of no return, so is the same water that left to its natural National Park proper, the greater Everglades ecosys­ cycles tose and fell seasonally. Before it the sooner we start addressing that, the tem extends south from the better off we'll be." was disrupted, the Everglades ecosys­ Ki ssimmee River watershed Overall, the strategy earns high tem acted as a giant sponge capable of to Lake Okeechobee, through marks from Huber. "The genius of the holding vast stores of water, sustaining the Eve rglades, and on to the CERP plan is that it has the involve­ hundreds of plant and animal species. waters of Florida Bay and the coral reefs. ment of virtually every interest in Under CERP, the thirsty Everglades

8 I California Institute of Te chnology • VOLUME 4 0 No. I, 2 006 SETTING A COURSE An expert in urban hydtology and really wanted to work in that part storm-water management, nonpoint­ of civil engineering." In his role as committee chair, Hu­ source pollution (that stemming pri­ Huber went on to earn his PhD ber leads a National Research Council marily from runoff due to rainfall), and in civil engineering at MIT in panel whose task is to "evaluate prog­ transport processes related to water 1968, and was a professor of en­ ress" on the 40-year Everglades plan. A quality, Huber has developed tools vironmental engineering sciences division of the National Academies, the for urban storm-water management at the University of Florida during NRC advises the federal government and control. He is one of the original the 1970s and 1980s. Moving on to a on scientific and technical issues. authors of a storm-water management professorship at Oregon State Univer­ Huber was offered the job in 2004, model that is widely used by the Envi­ sity starting in 1991, he also headed when NRC staff asked him to lead the ronmental Protection Agency. OSU's department of civil construction The great egret (above) is one of the many first congressional review of CERP and Although the NRC review is firmly and environmental engineering for nine Everglades birds and animals whose habitat has been diminished by practices that drained to oversee the preparation and writing focused on science, not advocacy, Huber years until 2000. wetlands and carried millions of gallons of of a report ro be presented to Congress doesn't mind using the E word. "I try water out to sea, halving the ecosystem's in June. This 12-member Commit- to embrace the environmental ethic in RESCUING TH E EV ERGLADES acreage over time. tee on Independent Scientific Review all the work I do. I like to engage in of Everglades Restoration Progress is green engineering, which is a buzzword Florida's mammoth Everglades packed with a range of experts, includ­ of the day, but the fact is that this type ecosystem extends more than 200 ridges, sloughs, and tree islands favored ing biologists, ornithologists, ecolo­ of engineering helps the environment, miles south from the ci ty of Orlando, by alligators, numerous bird and wa­ gists, engineers, social scientists, and in particular the water environment." through Everglades National Park, to terfowl species, and multitudes of other economists. Besides his technical experience, John­ the coastline southwest of Miami. Nat­ subtropical wildlife. "We establish, if not a standard, a son says, Huber has "a calm, thought­ ural springs and seasonal rains helped That was before the encroaching baseline or benchmark that other com­ ful presence about him" that is helpful fill the lakes and creeks to the north, forces of 20th-century urbanization mittees might follow," Huber says. "We when he presides over sometimes con­ and the water flowed into the Kissim­ and agriculture took their toll. Human don't have any precedents to guide us tentious proceedings. mee River before it emptied into Lake ingenuity devised a vast network of le­ other than our own good judgment. In his undergraduate days at the Okeechobee, which then supplied small vees and canals to carry now-unwanted Beyond that, the NRC staff are the ones Instirute, Huber was exposed to. the streams at the south end of the lake. water out to sea, allowing a large sugar­ doing huge amounts of work to keep all burgeoning environmental-engineering Much of the runoff continued as sheet cane industry to flourish. As waterways of us on the committee up to date. science program on campus. "Cal tech flow, a broad front of water moving at were rerouted to prevent flooding, "I am enormously impressed by my was doing the preeminent srudies at a shallow, uniform depth, all the way swamps were drained to make way for colleagues," Huber adds. "Everyone is the time. I have to thank Professor to the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay. homes. By the 1950s, the Everglades an accomplished expert in their field. Norman Brooks, PhD '54, for getting Throughout much of its history, native acreage had been halved and the ecosys­ Most members have prior Everglades me involved and for letting me find sawgrass carpeted this portion of the tem's natural food chain broken. Today, experience, so they are able to hit the out that you can work with water, play Everglades, growing so thickly in some close to 70 species of native plants and ground running." with it, and make money doing it." places that the underlying water was animals are endangered or hovering The work group has met quarterly He was able to engage in river barely visible. on the edge of extinction. Among the in Florida and other locations to review sediment transport modeling during a This 18,000-square-mile ecosystem most endangered is the Florida panther, progress, receive briefings on scientific summer research program, supervised formed a wetlands area twice the size of whose numbers have fallen to less than issues, and sometimes head out to the by Brooks (now the Irvine Professor of the state of New Hampshire. Environ­ 50 in the wild. Wood storks, ibises, Everglades for field updates. Environmental and Civil Engineering, mentalist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas roseate spoonbills, great white and Work doesn't end after Huber leads Emeritus) and other faculty members. dubbed it the River of Grass in her tricolored herons, and egrets-all wad­ the presentation of the committee's "It was taking Brooks's class in fluid classic book of the same name, pub­ ing birds that have come to symbolize report to Congress in June. Furure mechanics and working on some of lished in 1947. Its bountiful and slow­ the Everglades-have experienced se­ committees, filled with both new and those projects that helped me know I moving water helped noutish sawgrass vere population declines, but some have rerurning members, will continue re­ been successful in migrating to wetland porting every two years to Congress preserves in neighboring states. until 2040. By then, the massive fix-up effort is supposed to be complete. That's not to say salvaging the Ever­ A FRAGIL E A LLIANCE glades is a done deal. Says Shannon Estenoz, who until recently served as After the environmental movement senior policy advisor for the World gained traction in the 1960s, the deg­ Wildlife Fund, "The hardest work is radation of the Everglades became a ahead of us. That's why the work of the prime focus for conservationists. But it NRC committee is so incredibly impor­ took decades before intention led to ac­ tant in this process. In some ways it's tion. During the 1990s, a wide-ranging the place where the technical questions coalition of interests finally hammered will be most critically and thoughtfully out a consensus on how to reverse the evaluated." (Estenoz now directs the damage. Sun Coast Region of the National Parks "It was a fragile alliance but they all Conservation Association.) gOt together and agreed that something The public review will also serve needed to be done," says Estenoz. to remind the nation that the work of The landmark Everglades Restora­ rescuing the Everglades is only now tion Act, signed by President Clinton beginning and faces a far from secure in December 2000, authorized $1.4 furure, she adds. billion in initial federal spending. Two Above: Huber, third from right, Stephanie Johnson, an NRC senior years later, President George W. Bush and other members of the (om­ signed a second agreement with his program officer, says that Huber was mittee on Independent Scientific tapped because of his extensive back­ Review of Everglades Restoration brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush. g round in precisely the type of water Progress, including biologists, or­ This was meant to underscore the fed­ eng ineering issues that are relevant to nithologists, ecologists, engineers, eral commitment to ensure adequate and other experts, head out for CERP. "Modeling is an integral part water for the Everglades, even if it con­ the wilds of the Everglades for (a) flicted with other needs, from irrigation of the CERP, and Wayne has a good field study. Right: At the heart of understanding of how these models the nation's largest environmen- to flood control. work, and their limitations and ben­ tal fix-it project is a plan to drill Along with returning as much land efits." Johnson works closely with the an extensive network of aquifers as possible to its native marsh state, and underground wells, known as committee and coordinates its public the aquifer storage and recovery meetings. system (ASR). Con t in u ed on p age 1 2 . ..

9 I C a ttee h News :- l"..... THE TIMES IS ON OUR SIDE-AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON ROOSEVELT'S IOOTH MAN

In my first letter I commented on Caltech's imprint on me as a new student in the 1960s, and observed that the ambience of the campus today seems essentially unchanged, in spite of the increase in size and the addition of female undergraduates. (Even in the time dimension-recall Physics la-there is only one Caltech.) Here, I describe a bit of what I took with me after becoming an alumnus. Thanks to Photoshop, The Caltech educational mission statement began with an on-campus speech by it's easy to see that Theodore Roosevelt in 1911, when the Institute was still Throop. The former presi­ the passage of time dent wanted Throop to "turn out perhaps ninety-nine of every hundred students hasn't dimmed CAA [who would} work better than anyone else" at things like the Panama Canal, then president Ponzy Lu's affection for the under consttuction. In addition, there was to be "the one-hundredth man ... [some­ Times, whose Sunday one} with the kind of cultural scientific training .. . [to} develop [into} a man like edition he first got ... George Ellery Hale" (who was instrumental in founding not only Cal tech and acquainted with Mount Wilson Observatory, but also the Huntington Library). By 1920 Throop had as a Caltech senior been reborn as Caltech; and, according to the hagiography, as promulgated, invari­ (top image) in the Institute's mandatory ant, in the Caltech Catalog, the Institute's educational mission had become perma­ History 5 course. nently focused on Roosevelt's "hundredth man." To fulfill the "cultutal" part ofTR's vision, Caltech, and MIT as well, require fantasy embryonic stem cells, and a myriad of examples from government and busi­ undergraduates to take at least 20 percent of their coursework in the humanities and ness that make one wish the Caltech Honor System was more broadly practiced. social sciences. It is interesting to note that the converse is not true at some of our Faithfully reflecting History 5's relationship to the overall Institute curriculum in leading universities and liberal arts colleges, where it is possible to "earn" degrees the 1960s, I spend about 2 percent of class time on the Times' nonscience topics, and with the merest pinch of science or mathematics courses and reading assignments they are "on the test." with nary an equal sign. This is a restatement of the schism between the "two cul­ While I'm on the topic of the Times , a December 6,2005, Op-Ed piece-"The tures," an influential phrase coined in the 1950s by the scientist and novelist C. P. Hubris of the Humanities" by Times columnist Nicholas KristOf-triggered some Snow to describe what he saw as the breakdown in communications between the thoughts on Roosevelt's other "ninety-nine" students (the ones whom he envisioned as sciences and the humanities. master builders of edifices li ke the Panama Canal). KristOf's point is that we, and that During most of Cal tech's first half-century (1920-1970) part of the Institute's "cul­ includes those of us trained in the mold ofTR's "hundredth," have allowed the Ameri­ tural" component came in the form of History 5, a "public affairs" course required of can educational system to be dominated by those who teach the humanities. The result ALL seniors. It consisted of 3 terms at 3 units each, or a little less than 2 percent of the is a preponderance of liberal arts degree programs that allow the avoidance of science 500-600 units that most students had accumulated by graduation. During my years as education. (Interested readers who are not online Times-Select subscribers can find the a student (1960-1964), the course's only required reading was the "News of the Week KristOf piece at http://dienekes.blogspot.com/2005/12/hubris-of-humanities.html.) in Review" section from the Sunday New York Times. (In those good old days, the paper A month later, the Times' January 8, 2006, "Education Life" supplement-I did say arrived at the BookstOre, via airfreight, on Tuesdays. Fed Ex's overnight operation as I was addicted-published a piece by Charles McGrath enti tled "The Idea of Gen- we know it started in 1973, and the Times National Edition with direct distribution of eral Education: What Every Student Should Know." Writing about Harvard's current typesetting by satellite began in August 1980. The Times West Coast Edition that ran in struggles to redefine its core curriculum, McGrath opines that "all the tweaking and 1962 and closed early in 1964 was weekdays only.) politicking at Harvard serves to dramatize what is in fact a century-long debate about what students should be learning: a struggle to reconcile breadth with depth, special­ ized knowledge with a more general kind of understanding-the kind that prepares you for something like global citizenship." (Inquiring minds can find the complete text The point is that we ... have allowed the Ameri­ at h rtp://lertrist.blogspot.com/2006/0 1/ idea-of-general-education -what -every. h tml.) I would argue that Caltech's HistOry 5 achieved many of these objectives in a can educational system to be dominated by those who fraction of a full course, simply by asking us to regularly read the Sunday edition of a newspaper with a weekly magazine and a book review. We were not asked to learn teach the humanities. anything specific; instead we let our interests and curiosity decide what to read. Because of it, I have since subjected at least another thousand young minds to the same formative exercise-leveraging the Caltech experience, to use MBA patOis. It seems too simple, reading the Times as a core education requirement. But for the The class also featured one lecture a week on current events by a humanities smart, curious student, it offers a lot to explore. And we were all smart--or "gifted," professor or a visiting public figure. The tOpics included the American civil rights in today's vernacular. Independent of the Caltech HistOry 5 exercise, it has been ob­ movement, national and international politics, and regional economics of Asia and served, with control data from a 3-month Times newspaper strike in 1978, that medi­ Africa. There was a formal written examination each term. cal science results reported in the Times are subsequently cited more frequently in the While working on this letter, I corresponded with David Elliot, professor of primary medical literature than those that are not (For the complete study, see histOry, emeritus, who helped to direct History 5 in the '50s and '60s, and he kindly D. P. Phillips, et al. New EnglandJournal of Medicine 325 (1991):1180.) This should filled in some additional background. Among other things, he said that William serve as a word to the wise to our prealumni to read the Times. As for those current Pickering '32, PhD '36, had tOld him that back in the 1930s Millikan himself had alumni working in research fields at various institutions-help your public rela­ asked Pickering to teach History 5. As a New Zealander, Millikan assured Pickering, tions or public information offices issue an interesting press release when you publish "you must have a wider perspective on public affairs than many of us." Even after something in Nature, Science, or the New EnglandJournal of Medicine. Pickering became director of JPL, he continued to lecture in the course, missiles It is not clear what, if any, aspect of the Institute's core requirements today serves being a significant component of the Cold War. to fulfill History 5 's formative and unifying function. In the last three decades, In my day, the Sunday Times occupied a significant volume fraction in those Black­ have there been any mandatory courses for upperclass students-particularly se­ er House singles, so it was natural to browse the rest of it. The writing and printing niors-that mirror the unifying and valedictory purpose of History 5? Let me know of the New York Times Magazine that accompanied each Sunday edition were of high at [email protected]. For more than half a century, a shared pedagogical quality, particularly the underwear advertising. I became an addicted reader of the exercise for all seniors was effective in instilling nostalgia. Development office staff: Times. get involved in the teaching mission. I was so impressed with its salutary influence that I have assigned it in all of my courses in over three decades of being a chemistry professor. In a transparent decep­ tion, I assign the Tuesday "Science Times," while taking care to note that the paper carries science news throughout the week. It thus becomes a natural part of regular class time to comment on adjacent articles in the passing scene-intelligent design,

10 I California Institut e of Technolo gy . VOLUME 4 0 No. I , 2 006 ALUMNI COLLEGE Sedna, shown in this FOCUSES ON ENERGY artist's rendering, is one of the new, AND THE ENVIRONMENT noteworthy Kuiper NEW BOARD Belt objects recently Join fellow alumni and friends of discovered by Mike NOMINATED Caltech to examine growing concerns Brown. In the distance is a hypothetical small surrounding the effects of energy pro­ The Cal tech Alumni Association's moon, which scientists Board of Directors has accepted the duction on the Earth's environment and believe may be orbit­ natural resources. Take an inside look ing this distant body. recommendations of the Nomination at how Cal tech research is defining the Proposal Committee for candidate issues and offering innovative possibili­ officers and directors. ties for sustainable solutions. This year's cross-disciplinary pro­ Officer Nominees (I-year terms) gram will feature speakers from several academic divisions, including Chemis­ - President: Angie Bealko '96 (Austin, try & Chemical Engineering and Geo­ TX) -Vice President: Bob Kieckhefer '74 logical & Planetary Sciences. WHAT DO WE DO WITH This year Alumni College moves (Lafayette, CA) AN UNPLANNED PLANET? from June to September, and will take -Treasurer: Chris Wheeler '78 (Gulf place on Friday and Saturday, Septem­ Stream, FL) What is a planet? That question will ber 15 and 16. Space is limited, so -Secretary: Kelly Beatty '73 (Chelms­ be addressed by a scientist singularly mark your calendars and watch http:// ford, MA) qualified to respond to it, in the general alumni.caltech.edu and your mail for session speech at Alumni Association more details. Director Nominees (3-year terms) Seminar Day on Saturday, May 20. In his talk, "Beyond Pluto: Discovery of -Nancy Edwards Cronin '87 the 10th Planet," Caltech planetary scien­ 0ericho, VT) ALUMNI LUNCHES GO tist Michael Brown will describe the dis­ -Danny Howard '91, PhD '96 BICOASTAL covery of UB313-a planet-sized object (Altadena, CA) found orbiting the sun beyond Pluto. -Kenneth Libbrecht '80 (Pasadena, The Alumni Association is pleased He will explain why making a planetary CA) determination is a difficult question and Planetary Man. Mike Brown will bring his to announce the establishment of re­ unique perspective to the question of what -Susan Murakami-Fisher '75 gional monthly alumni lunches in the will offer some thoughts on what the makes a planet when he presents the general (La Canada-Flintridge, CA) cities of Boston and Los Angeles, join­ criteria should be. session address at Seminar Day. -Kristin Polito '95 (Pasadena, CA) ing the tradition of the long-running As head of Caltech's planetary San Francisco/Bay Area monthly lunch. astronomy group, Brown and his col- Director Nominee (Regional Repre­ The SF/Bay Area lunch, held the third leagues employ a variety of observational methods to investigate extrasolar planetary sentative, I-year term) Thursday of each month at Ming's res­ systems, cosmic objects at the edges of our solar system, the planetary satellites, and taurant in Palo Alto, is a popular, well­ the occasional inner solar system body. For the past seven years, one of their main - Michael Nelson '81 (Arlington, VA) attended event, and we look forward projects has been scanning the skies for planets beyond Pluto. to seeing the Boston and Los Angeles Since 2002, Brown and his colleagues Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz have Members of the Association may get-togethers become equally success­ repeatedly made headlines for finding new objects in the Kuiper Belt, the orbit­ make additional nominations for direc­ ful. Schedules and locations for the ing ring of rock and dust at the outer reaches of the solar system. The discovery of tors or officers by petition, signed by at Boston and LA lunches can be found on Quaoar was announced in 2002; Sedna, in 2004; and the not-yet-officially-named least 50 other members in good stand­ our Events Calendar at http://alumni. 2003-UB313 and its moon in 2005. At approximately 2.5 times larger than Pluto, ing, providing the petition is received caltech.edu/events. UB313 is the largest object found orbiting the sun since the discovery of Neptune by the Secretary no later than April The Association is currently seeking and its moon Triton in 1846. It is also the most distant-more than three times 15th. If no additional nominations volunteers to help start similar events farther away from the sun than Pluto. are received by April 15, the Secretary in New York City, Washington, To be or not to be designated a planet? While the International Astronomical casts a unanimous vote of all regular D.C., Seattle, and San Diego. If you Union and the planetary astronomy community in general continue to mull over the members of the Association for the live in or near any of these cities and issues raised by UB313 and its Kuiper-belt kin, Brown will share his opinions, based election of the candidates nominated by are interested in becoming involved, on his unique perspective, with Institute alumni on Seminar Day. the Board. pfease e-mail Jennifer Schmidt, assis­ The election of officers and directors tant director for events and programs, will take place at the annual meeting at [email protected]. of the Association on Friday, June 9, at 8:30 pm at the Caltech Athenaeum, 551 S. Hill Ave., Pasadena, California. PLEASE MAKE A NOTE Alumni Activities Once elected, the directors or officers begin their terms of office at the close Have you written a book? Traveled of the meeting. Association President somewhere exotic? Are you recently May 18, Rettnionsfor the classes 0/,36, '41, '46, '51, and '56. Ponzy Lu '64 (Bala-Cynwyd, PA) married? Do you have a new addition will become official past president for to the family? Share your accomplish­ 2006-2007 when the new terms begin. ments and milestones by submitting May 19, Half-Centttry Club Luncheon. a Class Note online at http://alumni. caltech.edu/network/class_notes. ] ust May 19, Rettnionsfor the classes 0/,61, '66, '71, '76, 'Sl, 'S6, '91, '96, and'Ol. log in to our website with your ten­ digit alumni ID and password, type in May 20, Alumni Association's 69th Annual Seminar Day. a small blurb about what you've been . up to, and your Note is online. Click June 9, Honorary Alumni Dinner and Annual Meeting . one more time and your Note will also appear in an upcoming issue of Caltech September 15-16, Alumni College. News. Give your fellow classmates a chance to read all about your latest activities while you catch up on theirs.

II I C a ltech N eulJ ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE Of TECHNOlOGY STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION SEI",EMIER 30. 2005 AND 2004 The sun rises over Lake Okeechobee and ASSeTS bullrush, a plant that grows in water at the 200' Ever g lades . . . from page 9 2005 (as reslaled) edges of lakes and slow-flowing rivers. Assets: Cosh and cosh equivalents: at the heart of CERP is an extensive Cosh on hand and in bank Callech Employees Federal Credil Union 158,617 network of aquifers and underground storage and recovery pilots." Other key Total cash and cosh equivalents 158.617 191.702 wells. More than 300 of them will be components of the planning and analysis t C.I.T. pooled investment accounts: drilled ro create an aquifer storage and are lagging, he adds. Ufe membership 3.981,007 3,425.172 Special investment 219,670 193.731 recovery (ASR) sys tem in south Florida. Most parties seem to agree on one Bascom endowment 2,539,907 2,230.700 At the rate of up to 1.5 billion gallons thing: no amount of intervention will Total pooled investment accounts 6,7040.584 5,849,603 of water a day, the water will be col­ restore the Everglades to its original Other assets: lected and pumped out as needed to pristine condition. "The problem is that Investment pool securities lending receivable 1.081.494 1,137,911 Accounts receivable 9.884 2.987 sustain the Everglades. 125 years of drainage in south Florida Delerred program expenses 9.930 5,687 Postage deposit 8,296 2,927 Among the many questions Sut­ has irreversibly altered the natural sys­

Totol other ossels 1.109.604 1.149,512 rounding the ASR system is the tech­ tem, primarily by reduci ng its size and

Tolalossels 8.008.805 7,190,817 nology itself, Huber says. The critical what is on its boundaries," says Huber. ASR component is "fascinating tech­ ''The goal of CERP is to restore the re­ LIABILITIES AND NeT ASSeTS nology," but has only been tested on a maining natural system so that it resem­ Liabilities: small scale. It is unclear, he says, how bles the historic, undisturbed ecosystem Accounts payable 7.368 9,859 Investment pool securities lending deposits 1.081,494 1.137.911 such large-scale storage will affect wa­ as much as possible. And the key to that \,147,770 Total ~abi~ties 1,088,862 ter quality, if the water can be pumped is 'getting the water right.' "

Net assets: out effectively, and whether the aqui­ Meanwhile, the state of Florida has Unrestricted 6,919,943 6,043.047 fers will be vulnerable to cracking. accelerated its pace of land acquisition Totalliabi~ties and net assets 8,006.805 7,190,817 CERP has a plan for that too--unfore­ for Everglades restoration. But with seen or unwanted outcomes will be ad­ land prices in the state rising at a fran­ STATEMENTS OF ACTIVITIES 2OQoI dressed by using "adaptive management," tic pace, the dollars aren't stretching as 2005 (as restated) in other words, by assessing and modify­ Changes in unrestricted net assets: far as was originally hoped. Revenue and support: ing the technology as the plan unfolds. Indeed, money is probably the big­ Dues of annual membet'1 66,945 68,910 Life membership dues 92.390 101,065 Given the environmental, agricul­ gest stumbling block facing the Ever­ Total dues 159,335 169,975 tural, and development interests that glades rescue. Many of the elements that Seminordoy 68.245 70,770 Alumni cOllege (continuing education) 15,545 35.090 must all draw from the Everglades' make up CERP must be funded incre­ Class reunions 22,458 33,775 limited water supply, will it be possible mentally by Congress. There's always a Regional programs 29,831 17,085 Travel study prograns 4,298 to fulfill the needs of all three? That's risk that the funding will be jeopardized Total operating revenue and support 295,414 330.993 one of the biggest questions posed by by shifts in the political climate, the Net investment income - pooled occounts \,156.633 605,619 Interest income 4.178 2,861 the restoration plan, Huber says. "If economy, and national priorities. "While Rents and miscellaneous income 2.510 1,765 there isn't enough water for everyone, the technical challenges are huge, at the Toto! unrestricted revenue and suppor1 1,458.735 94\.238

Expenses: then who's going to get it?" end of the day it's really politics and Seminorday 88.023 82,779 One thing is clear: despite an initial Alumni college (continuing education) 38.823 46.572 money that will make or break Ever­ Class reunions 58,575 69,731 willingness to compromise, competing glades restoration," says Estenoz. Regional programs 99,014 44.972 Travel study programs 4,869 interests may not ultimately agree on The immense devastation that hur­ New Oppor1unities • undeslgnoled funds 1.200 Administration 80,225 106.971 what a "successful" restoration should ricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked on the Communications - electronic 3.4,142 Communkations - print 75,171 look like. Environmentalists and con­ Gulf Coast and Florida in 2005 is taxing Communications 52.912 servationists would naturally like to already overbutdened federal resources. Publcations 040,655 Membership 16,135 5.<02 restore as much natural habitat as pos­ How and whether these strains will Undergraduate admissions suppor1 53,032 60.350 Coreer services 25.941 sible. Others see plenty of potential for affect CERP remains unclear, especially SponsOfShips 11.558 Student, foculty and alumni relations 44.537 balancing ecological concerns while given its nearly four-decade time frame. Total expenses 581.839 559,750 maintaining abundant crop production, Continued public support and inter­ Increase in unreshicted net assets 876.896 381 ,488 flood control sys tems, and water sup­ est are likely to be crucial, Estenoz says, Net assets - beginning of year 6,043,047 5.661,559 plies for a growing population. Net assets - end of year 6.919.943 6.043,047 but adds, "It's difficult to keep national Most of Florida's sugarcane, cit- attention focused on a long-term project

STATEMENTS Of CASH flOWS tuS, and winter vegetables are grown like the Everglades. People's memories 200' 2005 (as restated) in a large farming area south of Lake are short, and there's always a tendency Cosh ftows provided by (used lor) operating octlvlties: Okeechobee. A trade association for the to view congressional legislation as the Increase in urvestricted net assets 876.896 381.488 Adjustments 10 reconcile Increase in urvestricted politically powerful sugarcane industry end, rather than the beginning of a net assets to net cosh used for operating activities: Net investment income from pooled accounts 11.1",6331 (605.619) notes that Everglades restoration plans long and complex political process. The Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Increase in assets: are largely "based on untested technol­ technical challenges are all playing out Accounts receivable 16.8971 1736) Deferred program expenses (4,243) 11."'5) ogy that relies on pilot projects to de­ against the backdrop of an overarching Postage deposit 15.369) P,031) Decrease In liabilities: termine their effectiveness." politically charged atmosphere." Accounts payable 12.'911 1092) N evertheless, the association sup­ Huber says that while the Everglades Total adjustments (1 ,175,633) 1613.183) ports the overall concept. "The beauty of restoration project is far from perfect, Net cosh used for operating activities 1298.737) {231 ,695) CERP is that it plans for the water-re­ it probably represents the nation's best COsh flow provided by {used lor) Investing activities: Purchase 01 investment pool shares 192.3901 (151.465) lated needs of the region for the next 50 shot at saving an irreplaceable eco­ Inveslmenl pool principal distributions 358,042 316.555 years in a way that doesn't pit one user logical treasure. He views the job of Net cosh provided by investing activities: 265.652 165.090 group-the environment or natural sys­ the committee as that of providing the Net decrease In cash 133.085) (66,6051 tem, agriculture or urban-against an­ clear-headed, even-handed review that Cosh - beginning of year 191.702 258.307 other," says Jeff Ward, vice president of scientists always hope will carry the day, 158.617 191.702 Cash - end of year legal affairs for the Sugar Cane Growers reassuring the nation's lawmakers and Supplemental disclosures of cosh flow Information: Securities lending 1.081 ,494 1,137,911 Cooperative of Florida. "Unfortunately, the public that the more than $10 bil­ federal appropriations have been slow lion being spent to save a giant wetlands An electronic version of the independent auditor's report and all accompanying notes is available online in PDF format at hltp:llalumni.caltech.edu/news/announcements , in coming, especially for the aquifer is being used wisely. Printed copies are available by contacting the Alumni Association at 6261395-6592.

121 California I nstitute of Techn ology · VOLUME 4 0 No. I, 2006 1954 ing department, and he is currently working 1969 Gordon E. Moore, PhD, chairman emeritus on conrrol systems in the Cenrer for Adaptive Jeff Hecht writes: "My lat­ of Inre! Corporation and of the Cal tech Board Optics. "I sti ll play beach vo lleyball," he adds, est book is Beam: The Race to of Trustees, has received the Marconi Society "bur have no time for duplicate bridge." Make the Laser, from Oxford. Lifetime Achievemenr Award. Only the third Cal tech wasn't in the race, person ro receive the award during the society's 1961 but a noted alumnus got 31-year hisrory, Moore was cited for his "in­ Eli Chernow writes: "I had the pleasure this it starred-the remarkable novarive conrribution ro the technology rhat sum met not only of seeing my youngest daugh­ Charles Townes [PhD '39], drives our daily lives, his enrrepreneurial spirit ter, llana, married, but seeing the ceremony per­ still going strong when I saw and his devotion to the collaborative genius that formed by her sister, our oldest daughter, Rabbi him a few monrhs back. I did inspired the genesis and success of Inre!." Mari Chernow. I can say in all objectivity the get to menrion Feynman-be­ wedding ceremony was the finest we have ever cause Theodore Maiman, who 1957 artended." He adds, "A few days after the wed­ won the race, was so focused Harrison Schmitt, chairman of Inrerlune-In­ ding, out middle daughter, Jordana, started her on the laser that he wouldn't termars Initiative Inc., author, former senaror, rabbinic studies at Hebrew Union College in take time off to hear Feynman's lectures at the Robert Clayton, PhD '55, was awarded the National Medal of Science by President former astronaut, and the only geologist ro have Jerusalem. When Jotdana is otdained we will Hughes Research Laborarory." George W. Bush in a White House ceremony walked on the moon, gave several talks Ocrober join the handful of families in hisrory with two on February 13. The Fermi Distinguished 13-14 at the Cenrennial Celebration of the Illi­ daughtets as rabbis." 1970 Service Professor, Emeritus, at the Univer- nois State Geological Survey (lSGS), held on the Narendra (Naren) Gupta, MS, vice chairman sity of Chicago, Clayton was among eight campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana­ 1963 of Wind River Systems, has joined the board of recipients of the nation's highest scientific Champaign (UIUC). During his two-day sray, Chrisropher K. W. Tam, MS, PhD '66, Lawron directors of Red Hat Inc., the world's leading honor. Cited for " his leading contributions Schmitt spoke ro fourth and fifth graders from Distinguished Professor in Florida Srate Univer­ open source and Linux provider, headquar­ to cosmic chemistry, from pre-solar system Wiley and Thomas Paine Elemenrary Schools in sity's departmenr of mathematics, received the tered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gupta, who dust to planets, and for being an exemplary Urbana, discussed "Martian Evolurion: Lessons American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro­ received his PhD from Stanford and has over role model as a mentor, teacher and advocate from the Moon" with ISGS sraff, gave a free naurics Pend ray Aerospace Literature Award at 30 years' experience in the technology industry, for rigorous science," Clayton has sought to understand the chemical processes by which public lecture, "A Trip ro the Moon and Be­ the 2006 AIAA Aerospace Sc iences Meeting in cofounded Inregrated Systems Inc. (lSI) in 1980 cold, dark interstellar clouds evolve into stars yond," and spoke on "Full Moon, Old Earth" ro Reno, Nevada. The award's citation reads, "For ro develop products for embedded software, and planetary systems such as our solar sys­ ourstanding conrributions ro the mathematical the UIUC geology departmenr and guests. All serving as its president and CEO unril 1994, tem. Among many pioneering contributions, evenrs were well artended and received extensive foundation and algorithms for computational and as chairman unril 2000. lSI merged with his research has provided evidence to support media coverage. aeroacoustics, the understanding of jet: noise Wind River Systems in 2000, and Gupta has the t heory that a collision between Earth generation mechanisms and prediction methods, served as Wind River's vice chairman since then. and anot her planet-sized object very early in 1959 turbulence modeling and hydrodynamic stabil­ He also served as interim presidenr/CEO from the solar system's history led to the forma­ Deloyce Alcorn, of Sierra Madre, California, ity through numerous publications." June 2003 to January 2004. t ion of the moon. A member of the National has been named a corecipienr of the 2005 Kik­ Academy of Sciences, Clayton is also a fellow koman Teriyaki Ultimate GrillMan First Prize, 1964 Peter Szolovits, PhD '75, professor of com­ of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded in recognition of his culinary imagina­ George M. Whitesides, PhD, Flowers purer science and engineering at MIT, has and the UK's Royal Society. An asteroid has been named in his honor, tion as well as how and why he used Kikkoman University Professor at Harvard, has received been elected ro the Institute of Medicine of Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce. Alcorn prepared a the Welch Award in Chemistry, along with the National Academies. Established in 1970 burterflied leg of lamb marinared in a mix- $300,000 in funding, in honor of a lifetime's ture of Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce, work. Considered a nanotechnology pioneer, he white wine, sprigs of fresh rosemary, garlic, and has published over 900 papers and is known for ginger. "I srarted grilling years ago on family his development of soft Ii thography, a technique KEEP US INFORMED THROUGH THE camping trips and at University of Southern used for molding very small structures such as CALTECH NEWS ALUMNI NOTES! California (USC) tailgate parties, where my wife microchips. His more recenr work, with Hat­ atrended," Alcorn says. ''I'm retired now and vard postdoc Doug Weibel, has revealed that Keep us informed so we can keep your fellow alums informed! If you're a have much more time ro dedicate roward grill­ microscopic algae--dubbed microoxen--can be ing." Alcorn received first-prize gifts valued at conrrolled with light and made ro pick up tiny Caltech graduate (BS, MS, Eng, or PhD) Caltech News Alumni Notes is the place $365: a full-size charcoal grill with gas igni­ payloads and then dump them, depending on to let us know what you've been doing. Send us news about you and your family, rion, grilling rools, and a fu ll line of Kikkoman how their environmenr is altered. about a new job, promotion, awards, etc., that you'd like to see printed in Teriyaki Sauces. Caltech News. All notes submitted to Caltech News will also be posted quarterly 1965 on the Alumni Association's Online Notes website, unless the writer specifically Joseph M. Colucci, MS, of Clarksron, Michi­ Michael S. Gazzaniga, PhD, has joined UC requests otherwise. Please return this coupon and any additional materials to gan, writes: "On November 17,2005, I was Sanra Barbara's psychology departmenr, effec­ Caltech News, 1-71, Pasadena, CA 91125. delighted and honored ro be inducted inro the tive January, where he will direct the SAGE Brooklyn Technical High School Hall of Fame. Cenrer for the Study of the Mind. Launched Brooklyn Tech has about 80,000 alumni. The through a $3.5 million conrribution from Narne______Hall of Fame now has 29 members. My citation SAGE Publications-publisher of Urban Af­ recognized the work I had done at General Mo­ fairs Review plus 400 other journals and over Degree(s) and year(s) ______rors Research Labs ro improve auromotive fuels 350 books a year-the new cenrer will bring and lubricanrs, and ro reduce vehicle emissions. rogether UCSB scholars from a broad range of It also recognized me as the father of 'reformu­ academic disciplines in the arts and humanities, Address ______lated' gasoline," which, he adds, now makes social sciences, the sciences, and engineering ro up about one-third of U.S. gasoline. He notes explore the human mind. ______.N ew address ?______that George W. Sutton, PhD '55, was another inductee. "George was recognized for his nu­ 1967 Day phone ______E-rnail. ______merous inventions, including the ablative heat David Van Essen, Edison Professor ofNeurobi­ ology and head of the deparrmenr of anaromy shield that made reentry from space possible." NE~S, ______and neurobiology at the Washington University Donald M. Wiberg, MS '60, PhD '65, of School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected Sanra Cruz, California, reports that he will be a presidenr of the Society fot Neuroscience, the visiting professor in the departmenr of electri­ world's latgest organization for scienrists who cal engineering and compurer science at Ajou study the brain, and will officially begin his University, in Suwon, Korea, in 2006. After one-year term at the society's 2006 meeting. retiring from UCLA's departmenr of electrical Founded in 1970, the Society for Neurosci- engineering in 1994, he says, "it was inspiring ence has 36,000 members and hosts one of the ro work as IEEE Congressional Fellow for Sen. scienrific community's largest annual meetings. Tom Harkin (D-IA) as a legislative assistant Last year's meeting drew more than 31,000 during calendar 1995." In 2001 he joined UC attendees. Santa Cruz, lecturing in the electrical engi neer-

131 Caltuh News Writer-performer Sandra Tsing Loh '83 by the National Academy of Sc iences to honor brings her Caltech education and her 1989 gift for comic commentary to The Loh ptOfessional achievement in the health sciences, Cameron Campbell reports two pieces of news. Down on Science, a one-minute daily the insritute serves as a national resource for "First, my recent book Life Under Presmre: feature that debuted on Southern independent analysis and recommendations on California Public Radio affiliate KPCC Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and issues related to medicine, biomedical sciences, on December S. The show, which uses Asia, 1700-1900 (MIT Press, 2004) was named and health. Diversity of talent is assured by at humor to highlight aspects of science Outstanding Book on Asia/Asian America for least one-quarter of nominees being selected and the scientific enterprise airs 2005 by the American Sociological Associa­ from fields outside the health professions-such weekday mornings and evenings on tion Section on Asia and Asian America. The as the social and behavioral sciences, law, engi­ FM 89.3 KPCC. For more details, go to book was co-authored with James Lee, Tommy neering, and the humanities. http://lohdown.caltech.edu. Audio seg­ Bengtsson, and a number of other co ll aboratOrs. ments are available at http://www.scpr. Second, I was awarded a Guggenheim Fellow­ org/programs/perspectives/lohscience. 1971 ship in spring of 2004. I will be spending my html, and pod casts can be found at Clifford M. Will, PhD, has been named the fellowship year as a visitOr at the University of www.scpr.org/help/podcasthelp.html. James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics in Arts Michigan where I will continue my research on and Sciences at WashingtOn University in St. fami ly and social organization in China." Louis. A theoretical physicist, Will is consid­ ered one of the leaders in using experimental 1991 and obsetvational data to explain Einstein's Richard D. Braatz, MS, PhD '93, has received general theory of relativity. His research Centttry Leader (now available through Author­ 1986 the 2005 Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher interests encompass black holes, gravitational House), draws on his experience in research and Roland Heersink, MS, cofounder and CEO of Prize from the Institute of Electrical and radiation, cosmology, and the physics of curved development to illustrate the difference between Industrial Evolution, has joined PAS--a sup­ Electronics Engineers' Control Systems Society. space-time, and he is the author of Was Einstein merely filling an executive role and execur- plier of people and asset solutions to process in­ The prize recognizes "distinguished ClItting­ Right? and Theory and Experiment in Gravitational ing excellent management techniques. He dustries worldwide-as a managing parmer and edge contributions by a young researcher to the Physics. utilizes two fictional vice presidents, Catherine as president and chief operating officer. His "ex­ theory or appli cation of systems and COntrol." and Marcus, and examines the attitudes and tensive autOmation and software experience wi ll 1972 techniques that make Catherine a successful help PAS better capitalize its comprehensive Jacqueline M. Holmes has been named Of Paul Re has donated his collections, archives, leader and Marcus less so. The holder of 19 solutions for plant optimization and reliability Counsel to the Washingron, D.C., office of and estate to the University of New Mexico U .S. patents, FarringtOn received his doctOrate in the marketplace." Industrial Evolution serves Jones Day. Her husband, David A. Edwards (UNM) Art Museum's Jonson Gallery, where a in chemical engineering from the University of the data-sharing needs of over 300 companies '90, PhD '94, has been named acting associate reception was held for him in November. An Maine and has 25 years' experience in a variety worldwide, particularly in the oil and gas and chair of the mathematical sciences department artist noted for his virtuosity with the pencil of different R&D roles ranging from scientist the chemicals markets. at rhe University of Delaware. They live with and for his traveling exhibition Touchable Art to corporate officer. He currently lives with his their five-year-old daughter, Hope, in Newark, for the Blind and Sighted, he has published the wife, Gail, in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and 1987 Delaware. monograph The Dance of the Pencil: Serene enjoys tunning marathons. What Do I Do Now? J arita C. H olbrook acted as the contact for Art by Paul Re (1993), which theJournal of the is hi s first book. "an opportunity to view the March 29 tOtal 1992 Print World teviewed as "one of the outstand­ solar eclipse ftOm Cape Coast, G hana, and learn Alan H eirich, MS , PhD '98, writes: "I will be ing artbooks of the year," and his writings have 1978 about the indigenous asttOnomy of Africa. 'The doubly busy this year co-chairing the programs appeared in many journals and other publica­ Eric Kaler, Kelley Professor of Chemical Engi­ EBASI conference for the March 2006 Eclipse' of two international conferences, the Eurograph­ tions as well. The Jonson Residence, renovated neering and dean of the college of engineering is hosted by the University of Cape Coast ics Symposium on Parallel Visualization and into gall eries, wi ll feature permanent tOtating at the University of Delaware (UD) is a member and the National Society of Black Physicists. Graphics in Braga, Portugal, and the Associa­ exhibitions of the Paul Re Collection, and a of a UD-led research team that has received a Multiple workshops are scheduled to promote tion for Computing Machinery's Fi rst Sym­ Paul Re Sculpture Garden is being designed for $1.3 million grant from the National Science new research projects on African indigenous posium on Videogames in BostOn, co-located the Jonson's front yard. In addition, the Paul Foundation to fund research into nanoscale-di­ astronomy." with ACM SIGGRAPH. The ACM videogame Bartlett Re Peace Prize "will be given to that rected self-assembly, research that wou ld look conference will be the first scholarly confer- UNM student, faClllty or staff person who has at ways to assemble nanoscale "building blocks" Mark Wieczorek reports that he "has become a ence on videogames and will cover not only done notable work to promote world peace and into materials such as crystal arrays and wirelike parmer in the N ew Jersey patent law firm Mayer technology but also ci nematography, psychol­ understanding." structures that would be both highly sttuctured & Williams, starting their San Diego office, ogy, literary theory, the humanities and social and highly functional. This in turn might pave concentrating on client counseling in software, sciences. We expect this to grow into a major 1974 the way for future photOnic advances, such as EE, physics, and medical devices. www.mwpa­ annual conference and to be the start of an ACM Eddy W. Hartenstein, MS, has been appointed optical computers that run on light instead tentlaw.com." SIG (special interest group) on videogames. In ro the board of directOrs of SanDisk Corpora­ of electricity. Caltech's J ohn Brady, Chevron my day job I am a senior researcher at Sony tion, "the world's largest supplier of Rash Professor of Chemical Engineering, is also a 1988 Computer Entertainment, where I work on the stOrage card products." Also a board member of member of the team. Tim Swager, PhD, writes that he has recently graphics system for the PlayStation 3 game XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Thomson Multi­ been appointed as head of MIT's chemistry console. I was previously a principal member of media, and the Consumer Electronics Asso­ 1981 department. He continues to do research in the the technical staff at Hewlett-Packard, where I ciation, Hartenstein served as chairman and John G. Faugh nan writes: "I was in Los An­ area of organic optOelectronics. CEO of DIRECTV from its inception in 1990 geles on business. First time in about 23 years. through 2003, when NewsCorp purchased a Visited Cal tech late at night, some Blacker controlling interest in the company, and he undergrads spotted me as an aged alumnus, continued as vice chairman of the DIRECTV looking for some trace of old memories. Stu­ ROCK STARS Group through 2004, when he retired. He is a dents seemed very fami li ar, really unchanged. member of the National Academy of Engineer­ I recognized almost nothing else. The house I What's fully two, barely one, and red all over? Of course it's the Mars Exploration ing and was inducted into the Broadcasting and lived in is a parking lot . The campus I knew is Rovers, some of whose recent exploits are showcased on the back-page poster. The Cable Hall of Fame in 2002. a small fraction of the current sprawl. Most of twin robot geologists, designed, built, and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the buildings I worked in are gone. The 'new just marked their second anniversary on the Red Planet in January-if you measure Edward McGaffigan Jr., MS, of ArlingtOn, houses' are ratty now, the 'old houses' have held their tenure in Earth time, that is. According to the Martian calendar, in which one Virginia, was renominated in July by the presi­ up much better. Caltech is not a place for senti­ orbit around the sun takes 687 days, the unstoppable rock hounds have barely left dent for a third term as a member of the U .S. ment or histOry, but neither is Los Angeles." infancy behind. But, however you calculate it, there is no question that they have Nuclear RegulatOry Commission, confirmed in been on a roll, quite literally, for more than eight times their projected life spans OctOber by the Senate, and sworn in on OctOber 1983 (three Earth months) and show few signs of jettisoning their careers as Red Planet 12. His foClls will be on replenishing NRC staff Cheryl Robertson participated in Jump for paparazzi. On the back cover, the teal and sienna-colored graphic at the left is a as a wave of retirements hits the agency, and on the Cause 2005: "A world record skydive," she mosaic of images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera at the edge of Erebus preparing for a surge in license appli cations for writes, "151 women all linked together! Have Crater. Opportunity also took the detail in black and white at the lower right that new nuclear power plants. He himself will soon a look at www.jumpforthecause.com to see what shows the remnants of tiny sand dunes formed long ago by waves in now-vanished reach 30 years of federal service, including seven we did." The goals of the event were to raise Martian water. The image above it, taken by Spirit's microscopic imager, reveals in the foreign service, 14 as an advisor to Sena­ funds for breast cancer research through the City deformations in solidified molten lava formed billions of years ago. Spirit also photo­ tOr Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and nine at NRC. of Hope, to set the new women's world record in graphed the panorama of rippled sand in Gusev Crater in the bottom image. The formation skydiving, and to provide tole models upper right-hand image comes to us courtesy of the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. 1977 for women and girls. More Mars images can be found at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html. Ted Farrington, MS, in his just published book, What Do I Do Now? Becoming a 21 st

141 California I nstitttte of Technology • VOLUME 40 No. I, 2006 Ob tuaries OBITUARIES HAVE ------MOVED ONLINE

Starting with this issue, the full (;altech News obitu­ aries have moved online to http://alumni.caltech.edu/ invented and led the development of the world's 1924 1943 network/obituaries, where most scalable graphics cluster for scientific Harold H. Farnham, on July 15, 2001; Robert Leon Blitzer, PhD, on Ocrober 18, 2004; Gene readers can browse expanded visualization (the 'scalable visualization array,' C. Hastings, on N ovember 15 , 1993; Mitchell Rolfe La Forge, on November 2, 2004; Rich­ content and additional bio­ or SVA). This project had major funding from C. Lukens, on January 1, 1983. ard Schamberg, MS '44, on J anuary 20, 2005. graphical information about the U.S. Department of Energy ASCI program the alumni listed here. and was co-developed at Cal tech's Center for 1925 1944 Advanced Computing Research with substantial Byron A. Hill, on May 27, 1996; Thomas Salvador J. Campagna, CAVU, MS '52, on help from Jim Pool and Santiago Lombeyda, P. Simpson, on February 27, 1996; Neal D . December 14, 2003; Howard H. Chang, on and from David Breen of the computer science Smith, on February 14, 1994; Wilfred G. March 1,2004; Thomas A. Hudson, on De­ department graphi cs group." Thompson, on Ocrober 1, 1978. cember 30, 2004. 1959 Thomas F. Clancy, MS, on September 23, David P. Max and his wife, Tina, are pleased ro 1932 1945 2004. announce rhe birth of their second child, Rachel William 1. Berry, MS '33, on December 19, Eugene W. Bolster, on June 2, 2004; James B. 1960 Hadara Max, born Seprember 19, 2005. 2004; Philip D . Brass, PhD, on September 23, Green, on January 20, 2005; John Maloney, on 1998; Tetsuo F. Iwasaki, on J anuary 24, 2005. January 11,2005. Gerald G. Wilhelmy, MS '61, on Ocrober 14, 1994 2003. Wayne Chen, Ex, geri atrician and assistant 1934 1947 professor of clinical medicine at the Keck John T. Cortelyou, on January 19,2005. Robert Bearson, on July 7, 2004. 1961 Roy H . Makino, on June 30, 2004; Paul D. School of Medicine of USC, has undertaken rhe "Mac" McCormick, on August 2, 2003. traditional practice of making house calls. As 1935 1948 direcror of the USC Home Visit Program, he Dickson Marshall Sheppard, on December William E. Sims, Eng, on January 13,2005. 1962 and a nurse treat homebound seniors three after­ 11,2004. Jean-Claude Rivet, MS, in August 2004. noons a week, providing care ro those aged 65 1949 Myron Lipow, on January 24, 2005. years and older who have difficulty leaving their 1936 1963 homes ro attend medical appointments. He also William D. Humason, on July 24, 2004. 1950 Clarence Winternheimer, MS, on December maintains a private practice at USC's Healthcare William D. Calhoun, on March 11, 2004; 11,2004. Consultation Center II. 1937 John K. Bussey, MS , MS '38, on January 19, William W. WiUmarth, MS , PhD '54, on 2005; Bernard Walley, on August 6, 2004. January 24, 2005. 1964 Rajit Manohar, MS '95, PhD '99, assoc iate Donald Baganoff, PhD, on December 17, professor of electrical and computer engineering 1938 1952 2004. at Cornell University, has been named one of Carl W. Ahlroth Jr., on November 11, 2004; Daniel E. Carney, MS '53, on April 8, 2002; the nation's rop 35 innovarors under age 35 by Charles W. Clarke, on January 7, 2005; Rob­ Ralph S. Carrigan, MS, on September 16, 1966 MIT's Technology Review magazine. The honor ert C. Davidson, on December 8, 2004. 2003; Joseph A. Dove, MS, on January 1, Alden Douglas Holford, on September 6, recognizes his achievement in removing the 2002; David 1. Hanna, on December 10, 2004; Sylive F. Wirtz, MS , on May 3, 2003. onboard synchronizing clocks from computer 1939 2004. chips, making them 10 times more energy William 1. Brown, on November 24, 2004; 1967 efficient than previously. "Instead of a separate Arthur B. Drescher, MS, on Ocrober 23, 1953 Joseph David Kinkade Jr., on Ocrober 14, clock network carrying a global timing signal, 2004; James Eugene "Gene" Stones, on Walter E. Holtz, MS, on September 2, 2004; 2004. Manohar's chips use short wires ro carry signals December 19,2004. Lawrence D . Starr, on October 24, 2004. that alert successive operations when the previ­ 1969 ous operations have fini shed." 1940 1954 Edward P. Myers, MS, PhD '74, on December Willys Lemm, on J anuary 18, 2005; Dwight John T. Coughlin II, MS, on October 23, 6,2004. 1995 D . Miller, PhD, on J anuary 29, 2005; Collis 1999; Robert H. Shennum, PhD, on January Robert ]. Schoelkopf, PhD, professor of ap­ K. Steel, on J anuary 16, 2004; Edward R. 17,2005. 1975 plied physics and physics at Yale University, has John David Tristano, on January 13, 2004. Van Driest, PhD, on January 1, 2005; John O. been elected a fe ll ow of the American Physical WessaLe, on December 17, 2004. 1955 Society in recognition of his innovative use of Weston M. Howard, Eng, on March 19,2004. 1980 microwave techniques. He came to Yale as 1941 Karolen Paularena, MS, onJuly 18,2001. a postdoc in 1995, then joined the faculty of Fred W. Billmeyer Jr., on December 12, 2004; 1956 Douglas Robert Anderson, PhD, on Ocrober engineering in 1998 and was promoted ro full Richard M. Vaughan, on August 1,2004; Le 1992 12,2004; Arthur Kamii, on Dece mber 21, Achim Ditzen, PhD, on May 1, 2002. professor in 2003. His research interests focus Roy G. "Bud" Waigand, MS , on N ovember on the physics of nanostructures and single-elec­ 24,2004. 2004. tron devices. 1996 Matthew Taylor, PhD, onJuly 21, 2004. 1942 1958 Thomas Read Warriner, on October 17, 2004. 1996 Frank W. Wood, on December 19, 2004. Narasimha Chari, cofounder of the com- pany Tropos Networks, has been named one of the nation's rop 35 innovarors under age 35 by MIT's Technology Review magazine. The honor recognizes his setting the wireless mesh networking standard. Tropos Networks, which Chari founded in 2000 with coinventor Devab­ haktuni Srikrishna, helped launch commercial wireless mesh networking, and its services are nology Review magazine. The honor recognizes bacterium Psettdomonas aemginosa. This species built around Chari's routing prorocols. the fundamental improvements he has made to becomes a morral threat ro cystic-fibrosis, burn­ 1997 an aircraft propulsion system based on pulsed victim, and AIDS patients when the bacteria Robert F. Webbink and Jennie Gibson, a detonation, in which a fue l-ai r mixture is communicate through "quorum sensing" that graduate of Miami University, were married compressed and exploded as many as 100 times they have replicated in sufficient numbers to on November 19. "He currenrly works for per second. Rasheed's prorotype operates longer form a gooey amalgamation called a biofilm. Procter & Gamble in the Baby Care Computer and without the oxygen entichment required This form represents almost 80 percent of bacte­ Aided Engineering department," while she "is a by other research efforrs, and his is the first such rial infections. preschool special education teacher in the Lakota technology ro be used in today's jet engines. school district and is pursuing a master's in 1999 early childhood special education. " They live in Helen Blackwell, PhD, assistant professor of Sharonville, Ohio. chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, has been named one of the nation's rop 35 innova­ 1998 rors under age 35 by MIT's Technology Review Adam Rasheed, MS, PhD '01, ofGE Global magazine. The honor recognizes her work in Research, has been named one of the nation's "hijacking" the communications network of the top 35 i nnovarors under age 35 by MIT's Tech-

15 1Ca/tech News