Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee (EC) consists of the Past Chair of POPA and a representative from the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics, the Committee on Scientific Publications, the Committee on Minorities, and the Committee on Education. These representatives are recommended by the respective committees and appointed by the President-Elect as voting members to staggered three (3) year terms. Six (6) additional voting members will be appointed by the President-Elect to three (3) year, staggered terms. These members will represent a wide variety of backgrounds across the APS membership and are recommended by the APS Committee on Committees. The President-Elect will appoint a Chair from among serving members of the Committee.

The Ethics Committee will:

  • Propose and oversee the implementation of ethics policies for APS, including developing the roles and responsibilities of an APS Ombudsperson and potential revocation procedures.
  • Regularly review American Physical Society ethics statements for consistency with current standards and practice, or in response to current events.
  • Propose new statements as appropriate for revision and approval in accordance with Section J5 of the Board and Council Joint Oversight Policies and Procedures.
  • Organize events on ethics education topics at APS meetings and develop a speakers’ roster for lectures on research ethics and best practices.
  • Identify or develop educational materials as needed to support ethical best practices involving physicists at educational institutions, and in governmental and industrial research laboratories.
  • Compile information on ethics practices and provide reports to APS membership, Board of Directors, and Council of Representatives, as appropriate.
  • Review instances where the code of conduct at APS meetings may have been violated and develop policy responses as necessary or appropriate.

For more information, please visit the APS Ethics Program page.

If you have questions or concerns, you can contact the Ethics Committee at ethics@aps.org.

Chair: Nan Phinney (01/22 - 12/22)
SLAC - Natl Accelerator Lab

Past Chair: Frances Houle (01/22 - 12/22)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Member: Meredith Betterton (01/21 - 12/22)
University of Colorado, Boulder

Member: Courtney Au-Yeung (01/19 - 12/22)
Lehigh University

Member: Emanuela Barzi (01/21 - 12/23)
Fermilab

Member: Rebecca Surman (01/22 - 12/24)
University of Notre Dame

Member: Andrew Porwitzky (01/22 - 12/24)
Sandia National Laboratories

Member, Committee on Education: Maajida Murdock (01/22 - 12/24)
Morgan State University

Member, Committee on Minorities in Physics: Sowjanya Gollapinni (01/21 - 12/23)
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Member, Committee on Scientific Publications: Spencer Klein (01/22 - 12/24)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Member, Committee on the Status of Women in Physics: Susan Blessing (01/21 - 12/23)
Florida State University

Member, POPA Past Chair: William Collins (01/22 - 12/22)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Chief Executive Officer
Jonathan A. Bagger
ceo@aps.org

Corporate Secretary
Jeanette Russo
russo@aps.org

Director of Programs
Monica Plisch
plisch@aps.org

Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Guidelines. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.

APS Committees

The American Physical Society is a volunteer-driven organization. Since 1899, physicists have contributed their time and resources to running the APS in cooperation with a minimal full-time staff. Volunteers are the backbone of the Society. They form the character and direct the Society's progress and development. All APS committees operate on a calendar year basis and committee terms run from January 1 through December 31.

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Information for Committee Members