Chair's Message
It has been an exciting year for the Physics Department at Temple, with plans to continue growing stronger in the years ahead.
Professor Jeff Martoff won a $1.2M award from the Keck Foundation to build and execute an ambitious experiment to search for "sterile neutrinos." Earning such a highly competitive award, Martoff will construct the Heavy Unseen Neutrinos from Total Energy-momentum Reconstruction (HUNTER) experiment in collaboration with researchers at UCLA and Houston.
Cultivating strong leadership is part of the department's success. This past year, Maria Iavarone was promoted to professor and Nikolaos Sparveris promoted to associated professor with tenure. I am so pleased to play a role in helping cultivate the careers of younger faculty.
At the recommendation of a committee chaired by Assistant Professor Darius H. Torchinsky, the department enacted undergraduate curriculum changes. Students now have new courses in computing and theoretical physics, as well as new elective courses in astrophysics and atomic & molecular physics.
Finally, for the first time in 10 years, an external committee visited the department and provided feedback and advice for future directions. Next year's newsletter will discuss our response to their recommendations.
Please contact me if you want to visit the department. It would be an honor to show you our new facilities and introduce you to our new faculty members.
Jim Napolitano
Professor and Chair