Katherine Weimer

In
2001, the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics Executive
Committee established the Katherine E. Weimer award to "recognize and
encourage outstanding achievement in plasma science research by a woman
physicist in the early years of her career."
Dr. Katherine E. Weimer was a pioneering research physicist at the Princeton
Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University. She made many important
contributions in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability theory for
magnetically confined plasmas. Her obituary, written by John Johnson and John
Greene, appeared in September 2001 in
Physics Today. A list of
her peer-reviewed journal publications may be found at
Publications.
The Division of Plasma Physics has historically experienced significantly lower
representation of women in its ranks compared to other divisions (4% vs. 8% in
2001). This award will play an important role in recognizing the contribution
and potential of women in plasma science and will help to attract and retain
women in this field.
The announcement of the 2008 Katherine E. Weimer Award is at
Announcement. The standard APS
prize and award guidelines, which apply here, may be found at
this address.
The Award endowment was funded with $15,000 from DPP and $15,000 raised from
generous contributions from friends and colleagues of Katherine Weimer and
includes contributions from discretionary funds of fusion/plasma science
research laboratories.
The 2008 Weimer Award
The award is open to any female plasma scientist. The nominee's
Ph.D. must have been received within the ten-year period prior to the nomination
deadline of April 1, 2008. Nominations are active for one selection cycle (three
years). The award consists of $2,000 and funds for travel to the annual meeting
where the award is to be presented, as well as a certificate citing the
contributions made by the recipient. The recipient will be invited to give a
talk at the Division's annual meeting.
Previous award recipients
Professor Yu Lin of Auburn University (2002) "for creative and
significant contributions to theoretical and computational research in nonlinear
physics in the boundary layers of space plasmas"
Dr. Elena Belova of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (2005) "for pioneering
analytical and numerical contributions to the fundamental physics of
magnetically confined plasmas"
Award Committee 2008
Nominations should be sent to the chair:
Dr. Catherine Fiore
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NW21-203 190 Albany Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-253-8440
Fax: 617-252-1808
There is no provision for online submissions; however, electronic submissions
may be emailed to fiore@psfc.mit.edu.
Committee
members:
Catherine Fiore, Chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
fiore@psfc.mit.edu
Mary Ann Sweeney, Vice-Chair, Sandia National Laboratories
masween@sandia.gov
Joel Fajans, Past-Chair, University of California Berkeley
joel@physics.berkeley.edu
Elena Belova, 2005 Winner, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
ebelova@pppl.gov
Mary Hall Reno, University of Iowa
mary-hall-reno@uiowa.edu