D. Allen Bromley presents George Soros with a certificate of appreciation while Judy Franz and Ernie Hanley look on.
On June 4, 1997, leadership from The American Physical Society gathered in New York for a reception and dinner to honor George Soros for his support of science in the former Soviet Union (FSU). At the event APS President, D. Allan Bromley, formally recognized Mr. Soros "for his outstanding efforts in working to preserve the scientific heritage of the nations of the former Soviet Union." In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet government, the very existence and future of one of the largest and most important physics communities in the world became endangered. Under the leadership of 1992 APS President Ernest Henley, an APS Task Force on the Crisis in the FSU was appointed to oversee the development of support programs to assist these colleagues. The major contributor to these programs was George Soros, whose network of foundations gave $1.2 million for APS Emergency Small Grants to physicists attempting to continue their work and to provide needed individual travel as well as library journal distribution support which continues today through the Open Society Institute. In addition, Mr. Soros' $100 million endowment of the International Science Foundation brought another $16.57 million to the physics community in the FSU.
Mr. Soros continues to involve himself in APS affairs in a leadership position as a vice chair for The Campaign for Physics, a $5 million fund raising effort to launch and expand science education programs of APS and AAPT (a partner in the Campaign).