By David N. Brown. On Wednesday, May 9, 2007, Stephen Hawking, recently returned to Earth after his first weightless flight, sat in front of the packed but silent crowd in Lady Mitchell Hall at Cambridge University. Perched in his easily recognized wheelchair with microphone aimed at the back of his speech-synthesis computer, he delivered his lecture "Out of a Black Hole." He outlined the surprisingly long history of thinking about black holes, gave personal insights into the development of gravitational theories, threw in some inspiring words, and like a true Englishman did not pass up the opportunity to poke fun at the French. Hawking's talk was the inaugural Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture at Cambridge and served as the focal point of a special day honoring Dr. H. Andrew Chamblin in the United Kingdom. My daughter Carolyn and I were privileged to be part of the events of this special day.
Dr. Chamblin had been an Assistant Professor in Physics at the University of Louisville for just over 2 years when he passed away tragically on February 6, 2006, at the age of 36. He was a native of Texas who received his Bachelor's degree at Rice University. His graduate career began at Oxford University under the guidance of Sir Roger Penrose. While at Oxford, he caught the attention of Stephen Hawking, who invited him to study at Cambridge. Chamblin completed his Ph.D. there under Hawking and Professor Gary Gibbons. He remained at Cambridge for his first post-doctoral fellowship. This was followed by auspicious research appointments at MIT and the Los Alamos National Lab before joining the faculty at Louisville. Andrew brought to Louisville an outstanding research record, a love of teaching, and a keen interest in a variety of cutting-edge topics in the field.
Events of May 9 included a high tea in Cambridge's Division of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) and the unveiling of a bronze bust of Andrew, the packed lecture noted at the top of this article, a private reception, a dinner at Pembroke College (Andrew's old College), and a private post-dinner toast and conversation period. We were truly grateful to Professor Hawking for attending each of these events in full. When meeting him in person, one gets a deep sense of the difficulties brought on by his medical condition. His effort and the efforts by others at Oxford and Cambridge are a testament to the legacy of Andrew Chamblin, someone we will greatly miss.
The UofL Department of Physics and Astronomy has also established an Andrew Chamblin Memorial fund from which we hope to create an annual Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture in Cosmology, beginning in early 2008. Anyone wishing to contribute to this fund can contact the Department directly or find out more about giving here.
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Formerly a service of the American Physical Society, now a personal column. |
(American Institute of Physics) |
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(American Institute of Physics) |
(American Institute of Physics) |
| Bennett and Schwartz Award winners were announced at the annual Honors Colloquium on Friday, April 13, 2007. Sharing the Schwartz Award for outstanding graduating Master's degree students were Brian Carpenter and Paul Tandy. The Bennett Award for outstanding graduating senior went to Robert A. "Chip" Davidson. The graduating senior class of 10 students was the largest in this department in a long time - outstanding for a department of our size! Congratulations to all of our graduates! |
| Dr. Chris Davis wins 2007 College and University Distinguished Teaching Awards! Nominated by students and faculty, Dr. Davis won both the College of Arts and Sciences and University of Louisville Distinguished Teaching Awards. He was cited for making Physics Phun and for teaching well at a wide array of classes, from the general introductory course to the rigorous upper-level courses. Way to go, Dr. Davis! |
| Dr. Dale Hopkins (BS '62, MS '64) was named the 2006 College of Arts & Sciences Alumni Fellow. Dr. Hopkins is an HP Fellow - one of only about 20 in the world - and Chief Technical Officer of HP's Atallah Security Group. He is responsible for many advances in cryptography that have enabled ATM and other mobile e-commerce industries. Congratulations, Dale! |
| Dr. Sergio B. Mendes joined the Department as Associate Professor in August, 2006. He comes to us from the University of Arizona where he was a member of the research faculty. His Ph.D. is in Optical Science from Arizona and his research specialty is in optical methods of characterizing nano- and biomaterials. Welcome Sergio! |
| Congratulations to the UofL chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) for winning their 9th consecutive Outstanding Chapter Award for the 2005-2006 academic year. The award is given annually to only a select handful of the more than 700 national chapters. Also, in January of 2006, their Advisor received the Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award for the 2004-2005 academic year. This is a $5,000 award given to one individual annually. Congratulations to all! |
| Congratulations to the Department of Physics & Astronomy for receiving the Dean's Award for Outstanding Advising for 2005-2006. This is the second year in a row that the Department has been so recognized. |
| The Department mourns the tragic passing of Dr. Andrew Chamblin on February 6, 2006. Dr. Chamblin was an Assistant Professor in the Department since January 2004. He is missed. |
| Congratulations to Dr. John Kielkopf for being named the College's Distinguished Service Professor - Lifetime of Service for 2005-2006! |
| The Department officially changed its name from 'Physics' to 'Physics & Astronomy' in the Fall of 2005. The name change reflects the significant increase in teaching and research in Astronomy/Astrophysics in recent years. We have been told that it takes a while for such a change to propagate through the University. |
| Dr. Gerard Williger joined the Department as Associate Professor in July 2005. He comes to us from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a Research Scientist. His Ph.D. is from Cambridge University and his research specialization is in observational astronomy and astrophysics. Welcome Gerry! |
| Dr. Xiaoping Tang joined the Department as Assistant Professor in July 2005. He comes to us from the University of Nevada at Reno, where he was also an Assistant Professor. His Ph.D. is from Northwestern University and his research specialty is in NMR studies of nanomaterials. Welcome Xiaoping! |
| Congratulations to Dr. Shudun Liu for promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in July 2005. |