Letter from the DEO

I am pleased to once again share with you some of the many exciting activities in our Department during the 2003-2004 academic year. My sincere and profound thanks to all our faculty, staff, and students for their hard work, ingenuity, and dedication, which led to an extremely productive year. I am also especially grateful to our alumni and friends for their continued support, which has done so much for our Department.

Tom Boggess

The Department was fortunate this year to have added two outstanding new faculty to our ranks: Associate Professor Phil Kaaret, who is an X-ray astronomer, and Assistant Professor Bill Daughton, who is a plasma theorist. The Department is also currently searching for an assistant professor in condensed matter theory. We are very privileged to be adding faculty during these financially challenging times, and we are grateful to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Provost's Office for their support.

Members of the Department continue to excel in research, teaching, and outreach. Don Gurnett and his research group came to the forefront this year as both Mars Express and Cassini spacecraft reached their destinations. The research of Professors Bob Merlino and John Goree also received broad national exposure this year, as their work on dusty plasmas was featured in the cover story of the July issue of Physics Today. Bob Merlino has also developed an important new undergraduate general education class. The Physics of Everyday Experience: How Things Work is being taught for the first time this fall to an audience of more than 300 students. Professor Hallsie Reno provided another learning opportunity, for both our own undergraduates and those from other institutions, through her very successful summer Research Experience for Undergraduates program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. Professor Robert Mutel was recognized this year for outstanding teaching and innovative mentorship through receipt of the prestigious Philip G. Hubbard Award for Outstanding Education. Outreach activities included another extraordinarily successful booth at the Iowa State Fair and our new Distinguished Public Lecture Series. The latter, which is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and directed by Professor Michael Flatté, featured five outstanding lectures by internationally recognized scientists. The lectures were very well attended, not only by University faculty, staff, and students, but also by folks from the local community.

I hope you enjoy reading the latest news from our Department, and I thank you again for taking an interest in our Department.