Nominations for APS Fellowships

The Fellowship Committee calls for the nomination of candidates for APS Fellow through the Forum on the History of Physics. These nominations should be based at least in part upon achievements related to the history and philosophy of physics. The Forum deadline for the receipt of all materials at APS is 15 May 2009. Procedures for nomination have recently changed. The new procedures are now available at: http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/ (click on “Nomination Instructions”).

According to these procedures, all nominations should be submitted to the APS via the online nomination package provided at the indicated web site. The nominees must be APS members in good standing, which may be confirmed through the above website. A sponsor (nominator) and a co-sponsor, both of whom must be APS members, are required. Up to two supporting letters from other individuals, who do not have to be APS members, may be also submitted by uploading to the site. Please visit the above web site for further information and to obtain a list of the documentation required.

Nominations will be forwarded to the Forum Fellowship Committee for review. This committee will make its recommendation to the Forum Executive Committee, and after that all nominations will go to the APS Council for approval. Fellowship nominations may be submitted at any time, but must be received by 15 May 2009 for the next review.

For further information, please contact the chair of the Forum Fellowship Committee, Daniel Kleppner at kleppner@mit.edu, or the APS fellowship officer at fellowship@aps.org or by telephone at (301) 209-3268.

The Abraham Pais Prize for the History of Physics

The Forum on the History of Physics calls for the nomination of candidates for the 2010 Abraham Pais Prize for the History of Physics, the purpose of which is to recognize outstanding scholarly achievements in the history of physics. This Prize is sponsored jointly by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics. Awarded annually since 2005, it includes $10,000 and a certificate citing the contributions of each recipient (as many as three), plus an allowance for travel to an APS meeting to receive the prize and deliver an invited lecture on the history of physics. Past Prize winners are Martin J. Klein (2005), John L. Heilbron (2006), Max Jammer (2007), Gerald Holton (2008), and Stephen G. Brush (2009).
A nomination for the Pais Prize should consist of:

• a letter of 1,000 words or less evaluating the nominee’s qualifications, in light of the Rules and Eligibility for the Prize (see http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/pais.cfm), and identifying the scholarly and professional achievements to be recognized; as there is no official nomination form, this letter will constitute the formal nomination.
• a list of the nominee’s most important publications; reprints of up to five of the nominee’s articles may be included.
• at least two but not more than four seconding letters.
• an (optional) biographical sketch.

Five copies of the complete nomination package should be mailed to the Chair of the Selection Committee:

Professor Laurie Brown
1500 Hinman Avenue #402
Evanston, IL 60201

The deadline for receipt of all materials is 1 May 2009. After three consecutive review cycles that do not result in a nominee being selected for the Prize, a new, updated nomination package must be submitted for the nominee to be considered again.

Nominations for Forum Councilor

At its annual meeting on 3 May 2009, the Executive Committee will nominate at least two candidates for the position of Forum Councilor. Once elected, this person will represent the Forum on the APS Council in a four-year term to begin in January 2010. Forum members are asked to send suggestions for candidates for the this office to the Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Miller at millertf@bc.edu, or by surface mail to:

Thomas Miller
AFRL/RVBXT
29 Randolph Road
Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-3010

If more than 5 percent of the Forum members (or about 200) suggest the same person, that candidate will automatically appear on the ballot in addition to any nominations made by the Executive Committee.

---

Note Added: This article represents the views of the author, which are not necessarily those of the FHP or APS.