Superhero is Fellows' Surprise Guest

On November 10, APS hosted a reception at its headquarters in College Park for Fellows residing in the DC region. In addition to refreshments and plenty of opportunity to mingle, Fellows were treated to a short program featuring presentations by APS President Cherry Murray, Executive Officer Kate Kirby, Editor-in-Chief Gene Sprouse, and Director of Public Affairs Michael Lubell. At the end of the program, in honor of the LaserFest celebration that will take place in 2010, a surprise appearance was made by Laser Superhero Spectra, who is featured in this year's PhysicsQuest program for middle school students, and is the star of an accompanying comic book.

In the photo, APS Fellow Charles Clark of NIST (left) tells Spectra of his plans to send copies of the comic book to his middle-school niece and nephew. Spectra is played by Rebecca Thompson-Flagg, who, shortly after receiving her PhD in computational physics from UT Austin, joined the APS outreach department, and is now Head of Public Outreach.

  Spectra and PhysicsQuest
  LaserFest