Berkeleyan

Awards

10 November 2004

Robert O. Ritchie

Robert Ritchie

Robert O. Ritchie, professor of materials science and engineering and Senior Faculty Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division at LBNL, has been named as the recipient of the Nadai Award for 2004 by the American Society for Mechanical Engineers. The award was established in 1975 to recognize distinctive contributions to the field of engineering materials. Ritchie was cited for seminal experimental and theoretical contributions to the field of fracture and fatigue of a broad class of structural materials. He will be presented with the award in November at the 2004 International Mechanical Engineering Congress of ASME in Anaheim.

Arthur Rosenfeld

Arthur Rosenfeld, professor emeritus of physics and a pioneer of public and private energy-efficient technologies, received the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal on Oct. 21 at the Berkeley Community Fund’s 11th Annual Awards Dinner. First conferred in 1929, the Wheeler Medal honors a Berkeley resident “for nonpartisan service in any field or activity that has benefited the quality of life for a significant number of people in Berkeley.” This year marks the 75th year of the Wheeler Medal.

Peidong Yang

This year’s Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics was jointly awarded to American professors Hongjie Dai of Stanford University and Peidong Yang of Berkeley for their pioneering research in the nanosciences and the applications in the field of nanotechnology derived from their findings.

Peidong Yang, 33, is a chemistry professor at Berkeley who devotes his scientific attentions to the synthesis of new types of nanostructured materials.

The recipients’ discoveries will be of great significance to manufacturers of optoelectronic components and silicon chips. Dai’s findings will make it possible to purposefully grow carbon nanotubes on a chip as well as to measure precisely their electronic properties. Yang’s work will permit production of customized nanolasers made of nanowires, which will in turn open the door to entirely new methods of manufacturing optoelectronic components.

The award ceremony was held on Oct. 6 at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The Julius Springer Prize recognizes scientists who have made an outstanding and innovative contribution to the discipline of applied physics.

American Physical Society prizes and awards

The 2005 APS prizes have been awarded to the following Berkeley faculty:

Ramamoorthy Ramesh has received the David Adler Lectureship Award for his contributions to materials physics that have enabled a deeper understanding of ferroelectric materials, the discovery of colossal magnetoresistance, and leadership in communicating the excitement of materials physics to a broad audience.

Ivo Souza has received the George E. Valley Prize for fundamental advances in the theory of polarization, localization, and electric fields in crystalline insulators.

Roger Falcone is a co-recipient of the Leo Szilard Award as a member of APS Study Group on Boost-Phase Intercept Systems for National Missile Defense in recognition of the work of the study group in producing a report that adds physics insight to the public debate.

The following members of the Berkeley community also received prizes this year:

Yuri Suzuki (Materials Science and Engineering) has received the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award for her research in epitaxial oxide thin films, nanostructures, and devices with tailored magnetic, electronic, and optical properties.

David Chandler (Chemistry) has received the Irving Langmuir Prize for the creation of widely used analytical methods and simulation techniques in statistical mechanics, with applications to theories of liquids, chemical kinetics, quantum processes, and reaction paths in complex systems.

Pier Oddone (LBNL) has received the W.K.H. Panofsky Prize for his insightful proposal to use an asymmetric B-Factory to carry out precision measurements of CP violation in B-meson decays, and for his energetic leadership of the first conceptual- design studies that demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.

Carmen Foghorn

Carmen Foghorn, coordinator of the American Indian Graduate Program, will be honored by KQED as a “local hero” during American Indian Heritage Month at a Nov. 10 awards ceremony at KQED in San Francisco.

Foghorn’s office, part of the Graduate Opportunity Program, serves Native Americans from many tribes by supporting them through their graduate school experience at Berkeley. Her office offers a wide range of personal and professional assistance to these students, many of whom have never been away from the reservation and need help making the transition. Others seek assistance with housing, financial aid, or finding other Indians on campus. Foghorn is being recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty to assist these Native American students.