Business Meeting Minutes.
Present: Roger Miller, Emily Carter, Bruce Garrett, Peter Rossky, Tim Zwier, Sylvia Ceyer and about 12 other members in attendance
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New APS Fellows from the DCP were announced. David Schwenke was in attendance to accept his award.
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The nine recipients of Graduate Student Travel Awards were announced: Heather Lynn Abbott, Ke Dong, Samuel Glass, Aditi Mallik, Hayn Park, Shai Ronen, Ralph Scheicher, Leah Shackman, and Brian Thorndyke
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Bruce Garrett presented a financial report. The balance at the end of the last fiscal year (ending December 2003) was 79,312, which is a decrease of 4,225 from the previous year. Expenses for this period included a transfer of $10,000 from the DCP operating budget to the Plyler Prize, which the DCP administers.
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Emily Carter was recognized for putting together an excellent DCP program at the 2004 March Meeting. Attendance at the DCP sessions was good, particularly for the focus sessions. It was thought that the handouts of the schedule of talks were useful and should be continued next year.
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Ideas for DCP focus topics at next years March Meeting were solicited. Several ideas were suggested and forwarded to Mark Ratner, who will organize next year’s DCP program.
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Membership statistics were presented for the last several years. Between 1996 and 2001 the DCP experienced a steady decline in membership from about 2100 to about 1800. From 2002 through 2003 the DCP membership has increased slightly to about 1820. Suggestions for increasing membership were solicited. It was suggested that the DCP capitalize on the recent interest in nanoscience and make efforts to attract researchers working in the area of physics and chemistry of nanoscience.
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A status report was presented of APS prizes sponsored by DCP. An endowment funds the Broida Prize and is sufficient for the current level of the prize. GE provides biennial support of the Langmuir Prize. The Crouch Foundation provides annual support of the Plyler Prize, which is well below the APS recommended level. Tim Zwier reported significant progress on obtaining additional support from another organization for the Plyler Prize.