Our graduates should be proud of everything they have accomplished and will accomplish in the next chapter of their lives. The physics degree is one of the most challenging one, but these kids hung on to their dreams, and made them true. They survived and had tons of fun in the meantime, and their finish line is crossed now. Their degree may be their latest and greatest accomplishment, but it is also the grand opening of the door to a new beginning.
It rained with cats and dogs, but look at these smiles, who couldn't care less about those drench-y drops:
Smack in the middle you should spy our newly minted department head: Chris Hughes. Dr. Hughes is of course well-known to the JMU community, and was selected for this new leadership role from a national pool of applicants. During his interview, he shared a compelling vision for the future of physics and astronomy on campus, including strategies for recruiting and retaining a diverse community of faculty and students in the department, advancing the department’s role in producing physical science teachers to address pervasive shortages in the state, pursuing opportunities for collaborative engagements through the new Madison Accelerator Lab, and continuing to grow the department’s national reputation for innovation in the integration of teaching and research.
It feels like we all graduated this year, to a new era we are certainly looking forward to.
We take this opportunity to let you know about a grand series of awards that we celebrated last month, even if it includes some of our majors who have not walked the stage this year, but will do so next year (a.k.a, juniors). Maybe this announcement is in fact not too late, as some of these listings will explain the galore of colors hanging on top of the purple on many of our graduates:
OUTSTANDING
SENIOR PHYSICS MAJOR
Catherine
A. Witherspoon
OUTSTANDING
JUNIOR PHYSICS MAJOR
Nicholas
J. Duncan
PHYSICS
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD
Ian
C. Davenport
PHYSICS
SERVICE AWARD
Justin
D. Leas
PHYSICS
TEACHING AWARD
Zachary
J. Marinelli
PLANETARIUM
SERVICE AWARD
Margaret
C. Blackman
TUITION
SCHOLARSHIPS
Don Chodrow
Scholarship
Nicholas J. Duncan
HENRY W. LEAP SCHOLARSHIP
Rodney T. Hodges
PHYSICS ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP
Rodney T. Hodges
RAYMOND A. SERWAY SCHOLARSHIP
Kaitlyn D.
Porter
Physics and Astronomy SYMPOSIUM
AWARDS
1st
Place –
Zachary P. Schuhmacher
2nd
Place – Ian
C. Davenport
3rd
Place –
Jason M. Ferguson
SOCIETY
OF PHYSICS INDUCTEES
Maxwell M. Cannon
Ian C. Davenport
Nicholas J. Duncan
Justin D. Leas
Joseph J. LoPreto
Aaron C. Midkiff
Zachary J. Marinelli
