Class of 2009 Graduates with Many Honors

060109: Congratulations to the 2009 graduates of the Department of Physics and Astronomy! In the graduation ceremony held today:

• 21 students earned BS degrees in Physics (up from last year's 15)
• 3 students earned BA degrees in Physics
• 1 student earned a BS degree in Physics and Astronomy
• 1 student earned a BA degree in Physics and Astronomy
• 11 students earned MA degrees in Physics
• 6 students earned PhD degrees in Physics
• 4 students earned PhD degrees in Physics and Astronomy.

Bachelor's Degrees

(Click here for a high-resolution image.)

The following table displays details about the undergraduates who received their Bachelor's degrees and various awards today.

Graduate Awards

The Graduate Teaching Award, won by Jonathan Petruccelli, is an annual prize awarded by the Department to the best graduate teaching assistant.

The American Association of Physics Teachers Award, won by Seong Keun Cho, Mark Pecaut, and Kelly Sassin, is an annual prize awarded by the Department for excellent performance as a workshop, recitation, or laboratory instructor.

The Susumu Okubo Prize, won by Shantanu Agarwal, is a prize in honor Prof. Susumu Okubo, awarded annually by the Department for excellent performance in graduate course work and on the Preliminary Exam.

The Frederick Lobkowicz Prize, won by Bo Young Han and Qing He, is an annual prize awarded by the Department in recognition of an exception PhD dissertation in high-energy nuclear or particle physics.

The Agnes M. and George Messersmith Fellowship, won by Daniel P. Berdine, is given annually by the University Dean of Graduate Studies, in support of a particularly promising doctoral thesis project.

The Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Natural Sciences, won by Benjamin A. Sargent, is given annually by the University in recognition of an outstanding doctoral thesis completed in the Natural Sciences.

PhD Degrees

Name	Degree Earned	Dissertation Title and Advisor
Chia-Ling Chen	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Diffusive Transport and Trapping Systems Exhibiting Dynamic Percolation Transitions Thesis advisers: Eldred Chimowitz and Yonathan Shapir
Marian Ghilea	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Neutron Imaging with Bubble Chambers for Inertial Confinement Fusion Thesis advisers: David Meyerhofer and C. Thomas Sangster
Stefanos Giampanis	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Search for a High Frequency Stochastic Background of Gravitational Waves Thesis adviser: Adrian Melissinos
Jennifer L. Gimmell	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Dissertation: Search for the Flavor Changing Neutral Current Decay t --> Zq at \/s = 1.96 TeV Thesis advisers: Paul Tipton and Kevin McFarland
Bo Young Han	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Measurement of the W Boson Production Charge Asymmetry in pp Collisions Thesis adviser: Kevin McFarland
Ji Yeon Han	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: The Differential Cross Section Distribution of Drell-Yan Dielectron Pairs in the Z Boson Mass Region Thesis adviser: Arie Bodek
Qing He	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Thesis adviser: Edward Thorndike
Edward M. Nelson	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: The Adsorption of DNA onto Unmodified Gold Nanoparticles Thesis adviser: Lewis Rothberg
Joel D. Green	PhD, Physics and Astronomy	Dissertation: Observations of Feedback Between Protostars and their Natal Clouds Thesis adviser: Dan Watson
Alexander I. Hubbard	PhD, Physics and Astronomy	Dissertation: Conceptual Developments in the Astrophysical Hydrodynamics of Accretion Disks and Stellar Winds Thesis adviser: Eric Blackman
Ivan D. Minchev	PhD, Physics and Astronomy	Dissertation: The Effect of Spiral and Bar Structure on the Milky Way Velocity Distribution Thesis adviser: Alice Quillen
Benjamin A. Sargent	PhD, Physics and Astronomy	Dissertation: Spitzer IRS Spectroscopic Studies of Dust Composition of Protoplanetary Disks Thesis adviser: William Forrest
Michaela Tscherneck	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Molecule Chips Thesis adviser: Nicholas Bigelow
Kang-Hsin Wang	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Photodynamic Therapy: Theoretical and Experimental Approaches to Dosimetry Thesis adviser: Thomas Foster
Kevin C. Wright	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Stimulated Raman Interactions in a Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate Thesis adviser: Nicholas Bigelow
Fan Yang	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: D Meson Hadronic Decays at CLEO-c Thesis adviser: Edward Thorndike
Ilyas Yildirim	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Free Energy Calculations of RNA Duplexes with Tandem GA Base Pairs Using the Thermodynamic Integration Approach Thesis advisers: Douglas Turner and Nicholas Bigelow
Han G. Yoo	PhD, Physics	Dissertation: Silicon Nanosheets: Optical Properties, Light Confinement in Multilayer Waveguides, and Lateral Electrical Injection and Luminescence Thesis adviser: Philippe Fauchet

Faculty Awards

This year's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching went to Nicholas P. Bigelow, Professor of Physics, and to Douglas Cline, Professor of Physics. 

The Award for 50 Years of Service as a Faculty Member went to Emil Wolf, Wilson Professor of Optical Physics and Theoretical Physics.

The University Dean's Award for Meritorious Service in PhD Defenses went to Robert McCrory, Vice Provost and Director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and Professor of Physics.

The OSA/SPIE 2008 Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award went to Emil Wolf, Wilson Professor of Optical Physics and Theoretical Physics.

The Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics went to Robert W. Boyd, Professor of Optics and Physics.