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Tony Busalacchi, AOSC and ESSIC, Russ Dickerson, AOSC and Richard Walker, Geology have been elected Fellows of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). This designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1% of all AGU members in any given year. New Fellows are chosen by a Committee of Fellows, recognizing members, and others, who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the geophysical sciences, to the service of the community, and to the public’s understanding.

Neil Gehrels, Astronomy, has been awarded the prestigious Henry Draper medal, awarded by the National Academy of Sciences, for his pioneering contributions to gamma ray astronomy. His leadership of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Swift Mission has led to new insights into the extreme physics of active galactic nuclei and gamma ray bursts. The Henry Draper Medal and a prize of $15,000 are awarded for an original investigation in astronomical physics.

Jordan Goodman, Physics, was selected as the first "Faculty Excellence in Teaching Lecturer." This award, offered by the University's Center for Teaching Excellence, was established to honor those who lead the University toward exceptional teaching.

Derek Richardson, Astronomy. Richardson’s work on the formation of binary asteroids has been selected as one of the top ten astronomy stories of 2008 by the popular science magazine 'Astronomy,' January 09 edition. This work, with former student Kevin Walsh, 2003 M.S., 2006 Ph.D. Astronomy, used numerical simulations, solving the puzzle of why binary asteroids are so common in the solar system.

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John Benedetto, Mathematics, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, $151,138, "Frame Theoretic Methodology For Spectral Domain Dimension Reduction."

Howard Milchberg, Physics, IPST and ECE, Lockheed Martin, $101,475, "Applications of Molecular Alignment: (A) Control of Long Range Propagation of Laser Filaments and (B) Efficiency Enhancement of Hypersonic Fuel Cells."

Doug Oard, UMIACS and CLIS, IBM, $425,000, "Global Autonomous Language Exploitation."

Catherine Plaisant-Schwenn, Computer Science and UMIACS, Lockheed Martin, $100,000, "Human-Computer Interaction Research."

Steven Salzberg, Computer Science and UMIACS, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, $906,098, "Assembly and Annotation of Agricultural Genomes."

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Gottlieb Oehrlein, IREAP, Materials Science & Engineering, with Xuefeng Hua, Materials Science & Engineering and Christian Stolz, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Patent entitled "Method and System for Nanoscale Plasma Processing of Objects."

V.S. Subrahmanian, Computer Science and UMIACS with Jason Ernst, 2002 B.S. Computer Science and Mathematics. Patent entitled "Method and System for Optimal Data Diagnosis."

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Matt Bobrowsky, Physics, was the special guest of High Point University, NC for the annual High Point Universe Day Public Lecture, January 16. Bobrowsky provided an interactive presentation describing a summary of the conditions on Earth that makes life possible.

Tony Busalacchi, AOSC and ESSIC, is one of seven Maryland residents named to participate in a major study on climate change by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. The congressionally mandated study, America's Climate Choices, will investigate the serious, sweeping issues relating to global climate change and make recommendations regarding strategies that must be adopted in response.

Johnpierre Paglione, Physics, gave an invited talk at the University of Waterloo, Canada on December 16, discussing the new iron-based high temperature superconducting compounds discovered in 2008, and his group’s efforts regarding growth and characterization of this new family of materials.

Dave Thirumalai, IPST and Chemistry, gave the Zhonshan Distinguished Lecture at Nanjing University on December 12.

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Ben Bederson, Computer Science and UMIACS, was quoted in Technology Review, January 15, in an article on Microsoft’s Windows 7.

Charles Clark, Physics, IPST and JQI, Ludwig Mathey, IPST and JQI with colleague Ippei Danshita, were mentioned in PhysOrg, ScienceDaily, China News International and Asian News International, January 14, in articles on their proposed recipe for turning ultracold "boson" atoms into a "supersolid."

James Day, Richard Ash, Jeremy Bellucci, William McDonough and Richard Walker Geology, published an article in Nature, January 8, on the age and compositional data for the newly discovered, paired and differentiated meteorites Graves Nunatak, GRA 06128 and GRA 06129. Follow-up articles appeared in The Hindu, PhysOrg, ScienceNews, ScienceRef, Asian News International and Red Orbit.

Allison Druin, UMIACS and CLIS, was a guest on WAMU, Kojo Nnamdi Show, "The Computer Guys and Gal," January 6 where the guests discussed cutting edge tech gadgets.

Dale Fixsen, Astronomy, was quoted in MSNBC.com, January 7 in an article on cosmic radio noise booming six times louder than expected. Follow-up stories appeared in Space.com, Universe Today, Science Blog and ScienceDaily.

James Gates, Physics, published an article in the Baltimore Sun, January 20, on the election of President Obama.

Patrick Harrington and Elizabeth Warner, both Astronomy, were mentioned and/or quoted in the Business Gazette, January 22, in a story on the College Park Observatory’s bi-monthly open house.

Thomas Holtz, Geology, was quoted in Popular Science, January 20, in an article on the new specimen of the dinosaur, Beipiasaurus, found with imprints of a proto-feather that looks like the missing link between primitive downy feathers and the modern feathers seen on birds. Articles also appeared in New Scientist and Asian News International. A follow-up story appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 30.

Bei Lok Hu, Physics, was quoted in Discovery (MSNBC), January 29, in an article on research published in Science (January 29 edition) on entangled particles that can suddenly and irrevocably lose their connection.

Daniel Kirk-Davidoff, with research graduate assistant Daniel Barrier, both AOSC, were mentioned in the Baltimore Examiner, January 5, in an article on effects 300 foot turbines would have on the wind. This was a follow-up to an article on Discover News, November 25, 2008.

Zhanqing Li, AOSC and ESSIC, was quoted in Nature, January 29, in an article on China’s plan that promises top salaries and funding to returning elite researchers.

William McDonough, Geology, was quoted in ScienceNews, January 17, in an article on using a neutrino telescope to illuminate the Earth’s interior by detecting "geoneutrinos."

Chris Monroe, Physics and JQI, with Steven Olmschenk, Dzmitry Matsukevich, Peter Maunz, and David Hayes, all Physics, published an article in Science, January 23 on teleportation of quantum information between atomic quantum memories separated by about 1 meter. Follow-up stories published appeared in ScienceNews, NatureNews, PhysOrg, Technology Review, Time, Scientific American, Malaysia Sun, Discover Magazine Blog, New Scientist, Cosmos Magazine, Gizmodo, Fox News, Popular Science, CNet, Slashdot and CosmicLog.

Chris Monroe, Physics and JQI, was also quoted in Scientific American, January 30, in an article on entangled particles.

Robert Park, Physics, was the subject of an article in Discover Magazine, January 27, which referred to his January 31 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Point of View entitled "The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science." Park was also quoted in USA Today, January 20, in a story on the scientific climate changing as President Obama takes office.

Edward Redish, Physics, was quoted in The Columbus Dispatch, January 29, in an article on a recently published Science paper on learning and scientific reasoning, comparing Chinese and US students.

Chris Reynolds, Astronomy, was quoted in New Scientists, January 26, in an article on recent research on plasma jets and spinning black holes.

Ben Shneiderman, CS and UMIACS, was quoted in Nature, January 21, in an article on crisis communication that also featured the UM disaster response research. The January/February edition of IEEE Security and Privacy published a review of the National Academies of Science (NAS) panel report on "Protecting Individual Privacy in the Struggle Against Terrorists: A Framework for Program Assessment" which was co-authored by the NAS Committee on Technical and Privacy Dimensions of Information for Terrorism Prevention and Other National Goals of which Shneiderman was a member.

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Charles L. Bennett, 1978 B.S. Astronomy and Physics, has been awarded the Comstock Prize in Physics by the National Academies of Science. Bennett, professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, is being honored for his mapping of the cosmic microwave background and determining the universe's age, mass-energy content, geometry, expansion rate, and reionization epoch with unprecedented precision. This prize of $20,000 is awarded for a recent innovative discovery or investigation in electricity, magnetism, or radiant energy.

Gary Brager, 1963 B.A. Natural Sciences and Math, 1968 Ph.D. Education, is in his 42nd year as the Supervisor of Research for the Baltimore County, Maryland Public Schools. Brager, who was awarded a National Defense Education Act Fellowship covering three years of full time study, states that coupling of mathematical theory with practical applications has served him extremely well.

Anthony Casalena, 2005 B.S. Computer Science, was the subject of an article in Crain's New York Business, January 18. Casalena was a member of the Hinman CEOs Program when he launched Squarespace, an online software publisher and web hosting company that grossed $3 million in 2008.

David Doggette, 1994 M.S. Computer Science, is President and Co-Founder of 2HB Software Designs. Founded in 1994 and located in Columbia, MD, the company has expanded its services from providing Java Programming, Software Engineering, Web Based Development, and Telecommunications Systems and Services to include services in the areas of Systems Engineering, Management Consulting, and Information Security.

Jason Sanabia, 2001 Ph.D. Chemical Physics (advisor John Moore), is President, Raith USA, an independent high technology enterprise, which develops, sells, delivers and supports products such as the e-LiNE electron beam lithography and nano-engineering system.

John Themelis, 1970 B.S. Mathematics, has been an Associate Judge, Baltimore City Circuit Court, 8th Judicial Circuit since October 1988. Themelis earned his law degree from the University of Baltimore’s School of Law in 1975.

Michael J. Wietrzychowski, 1989 M.S. Geology, is a partner in the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis LLP where he is Vice Chair of their Labor and Employment Practices Group. Wietrzychowski earned his law degree from Temple University in 1993, and previously served as City Solicitor for the City of Burlington and Solicitor for the Delran Township Zoning Board. Law and Politics Magazine named him a "new Jersey Super Lawyer" for labor and employment law in 2006, 2007and 2008.

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PLEASE SUBMIT ITEMS TO: Mary Kearney (mkearney@umd.edu)

COLLEGE OF COMPUTER, MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Astronomy Department - Dr. Stuart Vogel, Chair
Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Department - Dr. James Carton, Chair
Computer Science Department - Dr. Larry Davis, Chair
Geology Department - Dr. Michael Brown, Chair
Mathematics Department - Dr. James Yorke, Chair
Physics Department - Dr. Drew Baden, Chair
CSCAMM - Dr. Eitan Tadmor, Director
ESSIC - Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, Director
IPST - Dr. Rajarshi Roy, Director
IREAP - Dr. Dan Lathrop, Director
UMIACS - Dr. V.S. Subrahmanian, Director

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