Governance

About Division of Plasma Physics

The American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics was established in 1959. The first elected Chair was Melvin B. Gottlieb, Princeton University. Each year the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics (est. 1975) is presented at the Annual Meeting, along with the John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research (est. 1981 as the Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research), the Thomas H. Stix Award for Outstanding Early Career Contributions to Plasma Physics Research (est. 2013), and the Marshall N. Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award (est. 1985 as the Simon Ramo Award). The Katherine E. Weimer Award (a DPP award, est. 2001) was presented every three years, since 2019 it will be presented every two years. The Landau-Spitzer Award (est. 2010 and supported by APS and EPS) is presented every two years beginning in 2012 with specific regulations benefiting EU and USA. The Nicholson Medal for Outreach, established in 1994 by DPP and the Forum on Physics and Society as the Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service, is presented annually at an APS meeting.

DPP is comprised of an international pool of members with representation from a diverse community at all stages of academic and professional careers. The Regular Division membership fee is only $10 per year for APS members. Graduate students can join both DPP and the APS at no cost during their first year of membership. Some benefits and opportunities of DPP membership include:

Receive professional development through all phases of one’s career.
Receive DPP E-News containing information on plasma physics opportunities, news, and events, including updates about upcoming meeting activities.
Vote in DPP elections
Serve the DPP and the Society through elective offices and appointed committees of the Division.
Take advantage of networking opportunities as an APS DPP member.
Be considered for nomination to APS Fellowship.
Access the DPP Community containing DPP-related discussions and downloadable material.

Join APS

Division of Plasma Physics Chairs

2023	Karl Krushelnick	University of Michigan
2022	Denise Hinkel	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
2021	Michael Brown	Swarthmore College
2020	Ellen Zweibel	University of Wisconsin
2019	David Newman	University of Alaska
2018	John Cary	University of Colorado
2017	Earl Scime	West Virginia University
2016	David Meyerhofer	Los Alamos National Laboratory
2015	Riccardo Betti	University of Rochester
2014	Mark Koepke	West Virginia University
2013	Frederick Skiff	University of Iowa
2012	Cary Forest	University of Wisconsin
2011	Steven Allen	General Atomics
2010	Thomas Antonsen	University of Maryland
2009	Amativa Bhattacharjee	University of New Hampshire
2008	Ian Hutchinson	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2007	Vincent Chan	General Atomics
2006	Melissa Douglas	Los Alamos National Laboratory
2005	Jill Dahlberg	Naval Research Laboratory
2004	David Hammer	Cornell University
2003	Michael Mauel	Columbia University
2002	Martin Lampe	Naval Research Laboratory
2001	Allen Boozer	Columbia University
2000	James Drake	University of Maryland
1999	Miklos Porkolab	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1998	Nathaniel Fisch	Princeton University
1997	Richard Hazeltine	University of Texas
1996	Stewart Prager	University of Wisconsin
1995	Barrett Ripin	Naval Research Laboratory
1994	William Kruer	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
1993	Chuan-Sheng Liu	University of Maryland
1992	Abraham Bers	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1991	Noah Hershkowitz	University of Wisconsin
1990	Akira Hasegawa	Bell Laboratories
1989	Charles Kennel	University of California, Los Angeles
1988	Ronald Parker	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1987	David E. Baldwin	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
1986	James D. Callen	University of Wisconsin
1985	Harry Dreicer	Los Alamos National Laboratory
1984	Ronald Davidson	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1983	Francis Chen	University of California, Los Angeles
1982	Allan N. Kaufman	University of California, Berkeley
1981	Nicholas A. Krall	Science Applications Incorporated
1980	Francis “Rip” Perkins	Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
1979	Burton Fried	University of California, Los Angeles
1978	George Bekefi	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1977	Harold Eubank	Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
1976	Fred Ribe	Los Alamos National Laboratory
1975	Alvin Trivelpiece	Oak Ridge National Laboratory
1974	Roy Gould	California Institute of Technology
1973	Norman Rostoker	University of California, Irvine
1972	Donald Kerst	University of Wisconsin
1971	John Dawson	University of California, Los Angeles
1970	T. Ken Fowler	University of California, Berkeley
1969	Harold Grad	New York University
1968	Solomon Buchsbaum	Bell Laboratories
1967	J Phillips
1966	Peter Sturrock	Stanford University
1965	David Rose
1964	Albert Simon	University of Rochester
1963	Thomas Stix	Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
1962	Richard Post	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
1961	Marshall Rosenbluth	Princeton University
1960	Melvin Gottlieb	Princeton University