James Bailey Wins 2016 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research

COLLEGE PARK, MD, July 20, 2016 – Bailey of Sandia National Laboratories has won the American Physical Society’s John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research.

The award citation recognizes Bailey for “extraordinarily thorough laboratory opacity measurements of plasmas at realistic stellar interior conditions that directly resolve outstanding questions about solar structure, identify new theoretical challenges, and propel a new generation of precision high energy density experiments of direct astrophysical relevance.”

The annual John Dawson Award is presented to honor a recent, outstanding achievement in plasma physics research. The award was established in 1981 with support from friends of the Division of Plasma Physics and has recently benefited from a joint campaign with UCLA and friends and family of John Dawson. The award was previously named the Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics. Bailey will receive $5,000 and a certificate when the award is presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics meeting in San Jose, CA. The meeting will take place October 31 to November 4.

James Bailey received his B.S. in Physics from the University of New Mexico in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Irvine in 1984. Following a postdoctoral appointment in the Physics Department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he joined the Pulsed Power Sciences Directorate at Sandia National Laboratories in 1985. He is currently a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia. Dr. Bailey’s primary research interest is High Energy Density Physics, with an emphasis on spectroscopy and the behavior of atoms in plasmas. His research has spanned a wide range of topics: z­-pinch radiation­-hydrodynamics measurements, x-­ray microscopy of human blood cells, neon-­like spectral line emission diagnostics, ion beam matter interaction experiments, 1 GV/m electric fields measured with the Stark effect, and capsule implosions driven by z-­pinch x­-rays. His current research concentration is in laboratory measurements of astrophysical plasma properties. Dr. Bailey was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2004 and is a member of the American Astronomical Society. He is a two­-time recipient of the Lockheed Martin NOVA award.

Contact: James Riordon, APS, riordon@aps.org, (301) 209-3238

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