Message from the Chair
As Chair of the Division of Chemical Physics, let me first offer my warmest greetings of the 2016 holiday season to all DCP members, as well as my best wishes for continued scientific joy, success and productivity in the upcoming 2017 year!
First of all, let me take the opportunity to congratulate the winners of Division of Chemical Physics awards through the American Physical Society, specifically Prof. Emily Carter (Princeton) for the 2017 Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics, Prof. Albert Stolow (University of Ottawa) for the 2017 Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics, Prof. Tilman Pfau (University of Stuttgart) for the Herbert H. Broida Prize, and Dr. Yuval Shagam (Weizmann Institute) for the 2017 Jankunas Thesis Award. Profs. Stolow and Carter and Dr. Shagam will have the opportunity to educate us on their many research accomplishments in a special prize session on Tuesday afternoon (3/14/2017) at the March 2017 APS meeting in New Orleans, which I’m sure will be most interesting. I hope you can all attend!
Secondly, I want to congratulate all the distinguished DCP scientists that have been invited to become members of the 2016 class of Fellows of the American Physical Society. The new APS Fellows this year are Eric R. Bittner (University of Houston), Vladimir Chernyak (Wayne State University), Frédéric Merkt (ETH – Zurich), David H. Parker (Radboud University Nijmegen), Mary T. Rodgers (Wayne State University), Charles A. Schmuttenmaer (Yale University), Xue-Bin Wang (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), and Jianzhong Wu (University of California, Riverside). This is a great honor and one of many advantages of being a member of the American Physical Society and the Division of Chemical Physics.
Thirdly, running the Chemical Physics Division is not something that one could possibly do alone — it truly "takes a village." Consequently, every year the Chair is asked to make suggestions for additions to an external nominating committee, who then comes up with a two-person slate of chemical physicists for each slot on the DCP Executive committee, and for which we all vote annually as DCP members. So I’d like to take the time to congratulate this past year’s winners of these elections: Vice Chair: Laura Gagliardi (University of Minnesota), Member-at-Large Stephen E. Bradforth (USC) and Councilor: Robert E. Continetti (UC San Diego), as well as to thank them in advance for their much appreciated service to the Division. I’d also like to thank David Chandler (Sandia National Lab, Past Chair), Amy Mullin (U. Maryland, Councilor), and Janice Reutt-Robey (U. Maryland, Member-at-Large) who have generously contributed their time and talents on the DCP executive committee and whose terms will be completed as of the March Meeting 2017.
Finally, as this will probably be my last newsletter to you as Chair, I want to thank all members of the Division of Chemical Physics for your continued support and help. I have had the great pleasure of meeting many of you at APS March meetings over the years, and I particularly want to thank those of you that pitched in to make the last March Meeting 2016 in Baltimore so successful. It has undoubtedly been hard work — but also a distinct honor and great fun — in helping the Division of Chemical Physics move forward and grow stronger. As one example, the Justin Jankunas Thesis Award was only initiated 2 years ago (thanks to the vigorous efforts of Secretary/Treasurer Robert J. Gordon and Past Chair David Chandler!) and has already become a very prestigious and highly sought after honor for young chemical physicists in the Division. By way of another example, the JCP Editors Choice session was a trial idea only last year (thanks to suggestions by Marsha Lester and support from Past Chair David Chandler!) and yet from its success and strong attendance at the March Meeting 2016 in Baltimore, looks to become an ongoing highlight of the DCP March meeting repertoire. I’d especially like to thank our Secretary-Treasurer Robert J. Gordon, who magically seems to be able to keep me and the rest of the executive committee on target, on time and (mostly!) under-budget.
As you know, Chair-Elect Tim Zwier from Purdue, who will take charge early in 2017, has done a fabulous job in putting together a very exciting program for the March meeting in New Orleans. With superb people like Tim Zwier, Scott Anderson, and now Laura Gagliardi in the executive committee progression, I know I leave the Division of Chemical Physics in excellent hands, both immediately and for many years into the future.
Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and peaceful holiday season,
David J. Nesbitt
Chair
Division of Chemical Physics