Lustig to Retire as APS Treasurer

Harry Lustig, the APS Treasurer for over 10 years, announced his intention to retire at the end of June 1996. He joined the APS as Treasurer-elect in July 1985, overlapping a few months with outgoing Treasurer Joe Burton, before becoming Treasurer.

During his tenure, Lustig has helped guide the APS with great skill and affection through a period in which the Society has undergone many changes, including the relocation of APS headquarters to College Park, Maryland. Since 1985, the operating budget of the APS have grown from $10 million to more than $30 million, and the Society has operated in the black every year. As treasurer, he is one of the three operating officers of the APS.

Born in Vienna, Lustig did not initially plan to become a physicist. Following high school, he enrolled in the City College of New York with the intention of earning a degree in engineering. After a two-year interruption in his studies for military service, he switched to a physics major and went on to graduate school, earning his Ph.D. in physics in 1953. He returned to CCNY as a faculty member, where he later chaired the physics department and eventually became provost. Lustig's research primarily centered on the theory of nuclear reactions and on the Mossbauer effect.

Lustig's professional career has been divided between research and teaching at a university and APS administration, with additional interests in public service, such as international development and science education. In addition to his duties as treasurer, Lustig acts as administrator of the APS Leroy Apker Award, established in 1978 to recognize outstanding achievement in physics by undergraduate students.

Although Lustig and his wife, Rosalind, will move to their new home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after his retirement, he said that he intends to remain active in APS affairs.

An announcement seeking candidates for a new APS Treasurer can be found on page 7. An extensive profile and interview with Lustig was featured in the December 1992 APS News.