Distinguished Service Awards
Nominations for the 2025 Distinguished Service Award can be submitted at this link by Monday, September 22th. The nomination should include a nomination letter and either a complete or a standard short CV for the nominee.
This award is to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions over several years to the Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma Section of the APS. Recipients of this award will become members of a committee to aid and advise the Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma Section’s executive committee particularly in retaining a historical perspective on the section’s activities. Service on the committee will include a four-year active term and lifetime honorary membership.
Criteria
This award is to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions over several years to the Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma Section of the APS. These contributions include leadership through service on the executive committee and/or TAOAPS sponsored activities such as the Fall and Spring Regional conferences, or other activities that significantly promote excellence in Physics in the Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma region.
Selection Process
Nominations will be accepted from the Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma Section membership and reviewed by an awards committee. The awards committee will consist of four members appointed by the TAOAPS Chair, with at least two chosen from past recipients of the award. In the first year, two committee members shall be appointed for one-year terms and two shall be appointed for two-year terms. Subsequently, service on the committee shall be for two years, with two members moving off the committee and two new members being appointed each year. No one may serve two consecutive terms on the committee.
The Award
The award itself will be a plaque for each recipient to be presented at the regular Fall TAOAPS meeting. In addition, a permanent webpage dedicated to the award and posted at the TAOAPS website will include a brief biography of each recipient including a description of their service to the section. There will be no monetary stipend associated with this award.
The number of awards made per year is not specified. In any year, the committee may choose to make multiple awards or none. The decisions of the awards committee must be approved by the TAOAPS Executive Committee.
Award Committees
2024: Rene Bellwied (University of Houston), Heather Galloway (Texas State University), Joe Haley (Oklahoma State Unversity), and Carlos Bertulani (Texas A&M Commerce)
2023: Rene Bellwied (University of Houston), Heather Galloway (Texas State University), Bhaskar Dutta (Texas A&M University - College Station), and K. S. Babu (Oklahoma State University)
2022: Jodi Cooley (SMU), Bhaskar Dutta (Texas A&M University - College Station), Harry Swinney (UT Austin), and K. S. Babu (Oklahoma State University)
2020: Vivian Incera (UT Rio Grande Valley), Harry Swinney (UT Austin), Walter Wilcox (Baylor University)
2019: Heather Galloway (San Marcos, 2019), Suresh Sharma (UT Arlington, 2018), and Linda E. Reichl (U. of Texas at Austin)
2018: Heather Galloway (San Marcos, 2019), Suresh Sharma (UT Arlington, 2018), Dwight Russell (Baylor, 2019), Felicia Manciu (UT El Paso, 2018)
2017: Bruce Miller (TCU, 2017), Suresh Sharma (UT Arlington, 2018), Kelvin Cheng (Trinity, 2017), Felicia Manciu (UT El Paso, 2018)
2013: Dr. Charley Myles (Texas Tech), Dr. Marjori Corcoran (Rice), Dr. David Hough (Trinity University)
2012: Dr. Mike Sadler (ACU), Dr. C.A. Quarles (TCU), Dr. Robert Beck Clark (retired from TA&M College Station), Dr. Suresh Sharma (UT Arlington)
2010: Dr. David Gavenda (UT Austin), Dr. Robert Clark (retired from TA&M College Station), Dr. Mike Sadler (ACU), Dr. Charley Myles (Texas Tech)
2009: Dr. David Hough (Trinity)