As summer approaches, this letter is to highlight some plans and activities that will promote the mission of the Division of Condensed Matter Physics. But first let me extend special wishes for successful recoveries to those worldwide that have recently faced major natural tragedies, including our colleagues in Japan, and most recently, those affected by tornadoes in the southern U.S.

There is much turmoil in the world today. The hope is that the physics community can help provide a vision for a better future. Certainly there are many research opportunities that impact major issues in energy, the environment, economics, and healthcare. These topics might sound nontraditional, but they are becoming more mainstream within the physics community, and specifically within DCMP. We look forward to programs at future March Meetings that highlight such areas of critical concern.

As you know, DCMP—whose mission is the advancement and diffusion of knowledge of our field—plays a major role at APS March Meetings. We sponsor invited speakers, who are grouped into symposia created and submitted by you, our members. The DCMP Executive Committee selects and arranges symposia based on this open process of member input. Please think about a symposium you would like to attend at our next March Meeting, and start to work toward making it a reality.

Our prize and award winners and the new APS Fellows sponsored by DCMP are all likewise chosen solely from member inputs. Please take an active role to work toward giving your distinguished colleagues the recognition that they deserve, including those in under-represented groupings within physics. Calls for nominations will be forthcoming. The APS and DCMP websites are good places to find more information of importance, including deadlines and submission procedures.

APS has recently been engaged in strategic planning to enhance and streamline its activities. Likewise, the DCMP Executive Committee has been examining how to better serve our members. As part of this exercise, in the near future DCMP will relocate its website so that it is within the APS site. We expect that the transition will be relatively seamless. A benefit will be an enhanced infrastructure to maintain the site, given the excellent support services that APS has to offer. I take this opportunity to thank our longtime webmaster, Dr.Irina Bariakhtar, who is helping to facilitate the transition.

The website transition will also provide a cost saving that will enable DCMP to help underwrite essential activities, such as programs of outreach both to the physics community and to the general public. It will further help to maintain our award/prize programs during challenging economic times, which have impacted us in the form of low interest rates on our endowment funds. Finally, the cost savings will help to underwrite enhancements to support activities for early career members (such as the Lunch with the Experts programs at the March Meeting) as well as new ways to engage our retired members.

We continue to strive for excellence in our mission utilizing the talents of all of our members, from early career to retiree, and everyone in between. Let us know your ideas about how the DCMP can help in this grand endeavor.

Sam Bader