Department of Physics

ISSUE 04 | DECEMBER 17, 2022

Physics Department Alumni Newsletter

A message from the Chair…

Dear Physics Community Members,

Wow! 2022 has been a busy year for Syracuse Physics. In this newsletter, we share the work done in Physics, recent highlights, and alumni updates and remembrances. We hope that you are motivated to join us in this work. 

Thank you for being part of our community!

Jenny

 

 

Articles of Interest

Click the links below to learn about

 

 

 

Feature Story

 

A Reflection on the Past and Our Impact on the Future

Al MacRae earned his PhD from Syracuse University in 1960 and went on to a promising career at Bell Labs. Peter Silvaggio graduated from Syracuse in 1969 and went on to earn his PhD at Cornell with Carl Sagan as his advisor. 

Full article
 
 

Faculty Updates

 

Faculty and Staff Highlights: January – December 2022

Syracuse University's campus on a summer day

The faculty and staff news highlights promotions, recognitions, awards, and other achievements from the Syracuse University Physics Department. We are proud of their excellence, accomplishments, and innovation.

Read faculty news
 
 

Student Updates

 

Student Highlights: January – December 2022

We are pleased to take this opportunity to highlight our students in a special way. Our students represent Syracuse University Physics through their commitment to learning, dedication to research, and qualities of excellent leadership. Enjoy getting to know more about them below!

Read students news
 
 

Other News and Stories

 

New Faculty Spotlight: Professor Rafael Silva Coutinho brings Flavour Anomalies to Syracuse University Particle Physics

The physics department successfully hired several new faculty in the 2021-2022 academic year! Our particle physics experiment search netted Rafael Silva Coutinho, who started as an assistant professor in August 2022.

Learn more about him
 
SPS leaders a staffing a table at SU Quad event

Physics Undergraduate Program Updates

The undergraduate program in physics offers students excellent opportunities to do research, build transferable skills, and get a great career. Unfortunately, our numbers have been dropping off in recent years. The work we outline below is the beginnings of a long-term plan to update the program. 

See our plan
 

What’s New in the Machine Shop

The Syracuse University Physics Department Machine Shop is an essential facility for the experimental physics research mission of the department. We often do not highlight this resource or the amazing work they do, but this year, we needed to talk about some of the wonderful and sometimes crazy things that happen in our shop! 

Learn about the shop
 
 

In Memoriam

 

Arts and Sciences remembers Kameshwar C. Wali, Longtime Physics Professor and Friend of Both the Sciences and Humanities at Syracuse University

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) mourns the loss of Kameshwar C. Wali, Steele Professor Emeritus of Physics, who passed away January 14 at the age of 94.

In remembrance
 

 

 

Remembering Hermann Gummel

Dr. Hermann Gummel, SU Physics doctoral graduate from the 1950’s, passed away Sept 5th at 99 years old. Dr. Gummel was a pioneer in the semiconductor industry. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Learn more about him on his Wikipedia page.

Read the obituary
 

 

Closing Notes

 

Dear Syracuse Physics Community Member,

Thank you for taking the time to read through some of this newsletter. I want to extend a heart-felt thank you to all of you who have contributed your time, your stories, and your funds to the department over the past year. We honestly could not do it without you. I hope some of these stories have made it clear that we are using your generous donations to build and strengthen the Physics Department community. We have a lot more work to do, so please continue to contribute to the Physics Department General Gift Fund – that gives us the most flexibility. If you like what we are doing, please continue to support us in this way! 

The best way to ensure we receive your donations is to follow these instructions:

  • Navigate to the Syracuse University Gift giving page  or point your phone camera to the QR code below.

  • Click the circle next to: “Choose a College of Arts and Sciences Fund”
  • Scroll down to Physics and select the “Physics Department Fund”

I know this is a bit arduous to do but selecting this fund will allow us to use your funds directly. Other physics funds are not accessible to the physics department, including the Fredrickson fund for financial aid scholarships.

If you are interested in setting up new funds for physics to use for express purposes, please reach out to us. We will get you in contact with the right people in the college to get those funds set up! We could really use more honors and awards for students, travel awards, and research awards for undergraduate and graduate students!

Thank you again for your support and generosity,

Jenny

 

Share your updates with us

 
ClassNotes

We invite you to share any update or accomplishments. We want to hear about your professional achievements. We also welcome announcements of marriages and family additions. We would love it if you included your pictures! Email your news and updates to phyadmin@syr.edu

 
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