APS News

April 2018 (Volume 27, Number 4)

Spotlight on Development

The Millie Dresselhaus Fund

APS is pleased to announce the establishment of The Millie Dresselhaus Fund for Science and Society to honor the remarkable scientific career and inspiring community legacy of Mildred S. Dresselhaus. A campaign has been launched to endow this fund and we invite you to consider supporting this effort.

Millie, as she was known to everyone, made important contributions to science through her research on carbon, semimetals, and nanomaterials and other nanostructural systems. Her contributions have won significant accolades in and of themselves—but more than this, she was an inspiration and mentor to many young women and men as they developed into scientists and engineers.

The Millie Dresselhaus Fund for Science and Society will reflect the areas in which Millie excelled and left her mark. The goal is to raise a $600,000 endowment to support activities in the areas of science and society to honor her remarkable scientific career and inspiring legacy. This initiative is unlike any other at APS—not only will it recognize scientific contributions of one or two recipients per year, but its reach and impact will benefit thousands of aspiring women physicists each year. The Fund will support the following activities:

Millee Dresselhaus photo
MIT

Mildred S. Dresselhaus

Science: $300,000 will fund awards to individuals who have excelled in science and who have made significant contributions to nanoscience and nanomaterials—areas pioneered by Millie. This APS prize will provide an annual $10,000 stipend, travel to an APS national meeting, and a certificate.

Society: $300,000 will be used to endow a named keynote address to be delivered to the more than 1,900 young women who attend Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) each year. The fund will also provide travel grants for undergraduate women who lack sufficient resources to attend these conferences. In addition, there will be an "action fund" to provide mini-grants to local Women-in-Physics groups throughout the country, to enable them to conduct activities aimed at encouraging young women to obtain a physics degree.

The APS Development Office, in partnership with the Executive Committees of the APS Divisions of Material Physics (DMP) and Condensed Matter Physics (DCMP), is currently recruiting volunteers to serve on the Millie Dresselhaus Fund Fundraising Committee. The objective of the Committee will be to identify and solicit major gift commitments that will help raise 60%-80% of the goal. This will position APS to launch the Campaign, and successfully raise the balance from the membership of DMP, DCMP and related units, as well as the broader physics community.

Gifts of any amount will be greatly appreciated and recognized on the Dresselhaus campaign website. For more information on ways to support The Millie Dresselhaus Fund for Science and Society, please contact Irene I. Lukoff, APS Director of Development at lukoff@aps.org or 301-209-3224.

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Editor: David Voss
Staff Science Writer: Leah Poffenberger
Contributing Correspondent: Alaina G. Levine
Publication Designer and Production: Nancy Bennett-Karasik

April 2018 (Volume 27, Number 4)

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Articles in this Issue
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams: Open-Access Pioneer and Community Organizer
Astrophysicist Helms the NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate
Condensed Matter Physics Gets an AI Assist
Kavli Symposium: LIGO, Quantum Computers, and More
The Hunt For the Elusive Majorana Qubit
Q&A with Danielle Bassett on the Physics of Brains
"Silent Sky" Sparks Discussion of Women in Physics
Spotlight on Development
This Month in Physics History
Education & Diversity Update
International News
Letter to the Editor
The Back Page