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A Brief History of the Activities of the Education Office

Wed, 12 May 2010 00:26:55 GMT

The Education Office was established in the Fall of 1998 with a mission to focus on the needs of both Hispanic-American students pursing the study of physics and on the needs of physics faculty working with Hispanic-American students. The first Education Officer was Juan R. Burciaga, then at Bryn Mawr College. The Constitution was later amended to make the Education Officer a member of the Board. Mentoring on the WEB  1998-2000  The Education Office set up the infrastructure for a web-based mentoring program whose primary objective was to reach students who did not have immediate access to Hispanic-American faculty and needed to discuss issues with them. Eventually the project was postponed until the Society grew enough to provide an acceptable number of mentors. National NSHP Logo Contest  1999-2001  The Education Office sponsored a national contest asking high school and college students to design a logo for the NSHP. But the logo was only one of...

Jaime Escalante

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:51:29 GMT

Jaime Escalante was born December 31, 1930 in La Paz, Bolivia. Following in his parents footsteps he began his career teaching physics and mathematics (grades 10-12) in La Paz. But in 1964 he decided to emigrate to the United States. He first attended Universitad de Puerto Rico to take extra courses in mathematics and physics but arrived in the United States still speaking little English and without a teaching certification valid in the USA. While working as a technician at a computer factory he went to night school and obtained first an associates degree in electronics (Pasadena City College, 1969) and then a B.A. in mathematics (CSU, Los Angeles) before earning his teaching credentials in 1974. Jaime Escalante began teaching mathematics at Garfield High School in 1974. At first the situation was very discouraging. The students were under-prepared and unmotivated in the classroom, and the administration opposed the changes he felt necessary to bring greater rigor, discipline, and...

News

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:36:48 GMT

Jaime Escalante (31 December 1930 - 30 March 2010)

On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Jaime Escalante, the high school mathematics teacher who inspired generations of students in predominantly Hispanic East Los Angeles, passed away. Escalante, a Bolivian by birth, was 79 and until relatively recently was still teaching mathematics in his home country. In 1988 he became one of America's most famous teachers when Edward James Olmos portrayed him in the film Stand and Deliver, which celebrated his successful introduction of the AP Calculus AB curriculum at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.

He made national headlines in 1982 when 18 of his students passed the AP Calculus AB exam and the Educational Testing Service challenged the test results. Most of these results were reinstated following a retest. In 1983, almost double the number passed, and by 1987, over 70 students were passing the AP Calculus AB exam and students had begun to pass the BC exam. Escalante's unwavering belief in the potential of his primarily Chicano/a students, and success in guiding them to academic achievements, challenged traditional ideas about what a successful mathematics student looked like.

The National Society of Hispanic Physicists mourns the passing of this extraordinary teacher and hero and recommits itself to carrying on his rich legacy of promoting the success of Hispanic youth in the mathematical sciences.

Career Advice

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:18:54 GMT

We use to say that if you were good there were many jobs available to you. But we can no longer say that. On the other hand, there are presently no careers which can guarantee you a job when you leave college. So while you are in college you might as well major in something that is interesting to you. The important thing to keep in mind is that an education in physics prepares you for much more than an academic or research career. The training you receive in computers, problem solving, appyling mathematics to situations, in experimental techniques, and in thinking logically and rigorously about the physical universe prepares you for virtually any career you choose. Many students do go on to pursure advanced degrees in physics, engineering or a related field but others pursue careers in very different areas. Some areas where physics alumns work are: lawyers college faculty high school teachers architects/city planners ...

Conference(AAPT)

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:13:43 GMT

AAPT-APS Joint Meeting Opportunity, Washington DC, Feb. 13-17 The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the American Physical Society (APS) are extending an invitation (see below) to NSHP members to attend the upcoming meeting in Washington DC, Feb. 13-17. This meeting was to overlap with the Joint Annual Meeting of the National Society of Black Physicist and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists, which has unfortunately been cancelled. AAPT-APS have extended the deadline for submitting oral and poster presentations so that our members, especially students, who were planning to present results at our meeting now have the opportunity to present their work at the AAPT-APS meeting. NSHP would like to thank AAPT-APS for taking this initiative. Please note the deadlines. ****************************************** AAPT and APS are pleased to announce that there are a limited number of additional contributed oral and poster presentations for students and faculty available...

2010 Schedule (Draft)

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:12:54 GMT

Print Friendly Version Notes: The acronyms used in the schedule correspond to the various NSBP/NSHP sections listed here Important: Student Posters Judging: will happen on Thursday & Friday Saturday, February 6 0800-1600 Pre-College Program Committee Physics Day Camp TBD Monday, February 8 0830-1830 Pre-College Program Committee Science Ambassadors at Local Schools Tuesday, February 9 0830-1830 Pre-College Program Committee Science Ambassadors at Local Schools ...

2010 Abstract and Manuscript Submission

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:42:30 GMT

Submit Manuscript for Conference Proceedings Submit Abstract for Oral and Poster Presentations Manuscripts for Conference Proceedings The conference proceedings will be published and widely disseminated as a volume of AIP Conference Proceedings. All oral presenters should be prepared to submit a manuscript for the conference proceedings no later than 30 days after the close of the conference. Manuscripts are expected to of the level of content and quality of the premier physics and astronomy research journals. Poster presenters are welcome to submit a full manuscript to be included in the proceedings as well. AIP has prepared a user guides and templates for Microsoft Word and LaTeX. Please read the guides and other reference documents before preparing your proceedings manuscript. Author Instructions: 6 x 9 inch, single-column instruction booklet 6 x 9 inch, single-column sample paper MS Word Templates and Users...

Hotel & Local Information

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:00:48 GMT

2010 NSBP/NSHP Conference Hotel Faculty/Professional and Exhibitor/Recruiters Only! Hotel Reservation Cut-Off Date: Monday, January 18, 2010. (Why is this date important?) Hotel Accommodations NSBP/NSHP have reserved a block of rooms at the Omni Shoreham Hotel for conference attendees. Omni Shoreham Hotel 2500 Calvert Street NW (at Connecticut Ave.) Washington, District of Columbia 20008 Phone: (202) 234-0700, Fax: (202) 265-7972 Online Hotel Booking: The online hotel room reservation is just a click away! Click on the link below and you will be directed to the property's home page with the code already entered in the appropriate field. All you need to do is enter your arrival date and departure date to begin the reservation process. Make Your Reservation Now Or you can contact reservations by phone at 1-888-444-6664 Room rate: $193.00 plus 15.25% tax per night single/double occupancy. Room rates are guaranteed until January 18th or until the block is sold...

Contacts

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:06:39 GMT

The entire Board is willing to serve as your first contact to the community of the NSHP. We welcome your questions or comments and if the person you first contact is not the right one, we can at least put you in touch with the one you need. The 2008/09 Board President David J. Ernst Physics and Astronomy Department Vanderbilt University 1807 Station B Nashville, TN 37235 phone: (615) 343-0483 e-mail: david.j.ernst@vanderbilt.edu Past President Sergio E. Ulloa Dept. of Physics and Astronomy Ohio University Athens, OH 45701-2979 phone: (740) 593-1718 e-mail: ULLOA@HELIOS.PHY.OHIOU.EDU President Elect Luz J. Martinez-Miranda Dept. of Material Science and Engineering University of Maryland College...

2008-9 Board

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:21:29 GMT

Past President Sergio E. Ulloa Web Page:http://www.phy.ohiou.edu/~ulloa/ e-mail address:ULLOA@HELIOS.PHY.OHIOU.EDU Ohio University President David J. Ernst Web Page: http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/ernstdj e-mail address: david.j.ernst@vanderbilt.edu Vanderbilt University President Elect Luz J. Martinez-Miranda Web Page: http://www.glue.umd.edu/~ljmm/ e-mail address: martinez@eng.umd.edu University of Maryland Secretary Ramon E. Lopez Web Page: http://www.uta.edu/ra/real/editprofile.php?pid=1926 e-mail address: relopez@uta.edu The University of Texas at Arlington Treasurer Jesus Pando Web Page: http://universo.phy.depaul.edu/%7Ejesuspando/ e-mail address: jpando@cielos.phy.depaul.edu DePaul University Technical Officer Raul Armendariz Web Page:http://marcus.whitman.edu/~burciaj/raul.html e-mail address:rarmenda@rcf.rhic.bnl.gov Brookhaven National Laboratory Communication Officer Jorge A. Lopez Web Page:...

General Information

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:57:37 GMT

Physics Diversity Summit and 2010 Joint Annual Conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists Wednesday, February 10 - Sunday, February 14, 2010 Omni Shoreham Hotel Washington, DC Please join us in Washington, DC for the 2010 Physics Diversity Summit and Joint Annual Conference of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP). The conference location in the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The annual conferences of the National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists bring together over 500 African American and Hispanic American physics students and professionals. The annual conferences of the National Society of Black Physicists and National Society of Hispanic Physicists bring together over 500 African American and Hispanic American physics students and professionals. Acoustics Astronomy and...

Magaly Spector

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:55:28 GMT

Magaly Perez Bernal was born in Cuba, July 4 1952. She began playing chess as a girl and began winning the Cuban Scholar Chess Championship at the age of 14. Prior to attending the demanding physics program at Havana University she met and married her first husband, Roberto Spector. She obtained her bachelor's degree (License) in physics in 1977 and in 1978/79 she won the Cuban National Chess Championship. She and her family arrived in the USA in 1980 as political refugees and she almost immediately began work at the prestigious AT&T Bell Labs in 1981. Determined to learn more Magaly Spector enrolled in Lehigh University earning a master's in electrical engineering in 1985 and a Ph.D. in physics in 1993. Her dissertation was on the characterization of important properties of GaAS, the material used to make integrated circuit chips. Her work at Bell Labs (now Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, the successor to AT&T Bell Labs) covers semiconductor materials, characterizing lasers, and fiber...

Hispanic Americans in Physics: Past Present, and Future

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:53:07 GMT

Bienvenidos. And welcome to our website celebrating the accomplishments of those Hispanic Americans who have studied physics and have gone on, or are going on, to make significant contributions to physics, physics/science education, or in other related fields. Here you will be introduced to women and men whose curiousity, whose eagerness to learn, and whose passion to share what they learn have given us cause to celebrate. But though we take great care to present as accurate and clear a picture as possible, we are not a library. So feel free to start your reading here but do not stop here. Name Index Mario Acuna Luis W. Alvarez Albert Baez Carlos Bustamante Marcela Carena Ines Cifuentes ...

Matias Zaldarriaga

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:50:51 GMT

Matias Zaldarriaga was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1971 and graduated with an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Buenos Aires in 1994. He then earned a Ph. D. in physics from MIT in 1998. Dr. Zadalarriaga was a post doc at the Institute of Advanced Study before starting work at New York University as an assistant professor in 2001. But in 2003 he moved to Harvard University.

Matias Zaldarriaga's research focuses on questions of the structure and nature of the early universe. He has developed a software package that is used to interpret the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the results of his work have influenced the design of new telescopes. He has also shown how subtle differences in the CMB can be used to interpret the early nature of the universe.

Dr. Zaldarriaga was selected as a Packard Fellow in 2001 and a MacArthur Fellow in 2006. A brief essay of his work appears in the May 5, 2005 Harvard Gazette which can be found online at http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/05.05/03-zalda.html.

Elba E. Serrano

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:44:44 GMT

Elba E. Serrano was born in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her father was in the US military and so their family lived in many parts of the world following him while he was stationed in the Caribbean, Central American, and Taiwan. An so she grew up surrounded by multiple cultures and languages. She received a BS in physics from the University of Rochester but was drawn to questions about the physical processes in biology and sensory phenomena and so she obtained a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences/Biophysics from Stanford University.

After receiving her degree she worked as a post-doc at Stanford and the UCLA Medical School before joining New Mexico State University in 1991.

Dr. Serrano's research now focuses on the ear, hearing, and how this structure plays a role in balance. This work ties together many areas and approaches of biology, neuroscience, and signal processing. She is affiliated with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at NMSU. More details of her work can be found the web page of her lab http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/serrano/neurolab/neurolab.html, referenced 11 November 2007.

In 2002/3 the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) chose Dr. Serrano as an International Lecturer in Women in Science and Engineering. She and one of her graduate students traveled to Brazil to speak on their experience as women scientists. A short biographical essay appears on the program website at http://ehrweb.aaas.org/womeninscience/essays/serrano.htm, referenced 11 November 2007. More information can be found in the SACNAS Biography Project at http://www.sacnas.org/biography/listssubject.asp, referenced 11 November 2007.

Jorge Pullin

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:41:40 GMT

Jorge Pullin was born in 1963 in Argentina and first attended the University of Buenos Aires before receiving his graduate degrees from the Instituto Balserio. He worked at the University of Cordoba, Syracuse University, and the University of Utah before he joined the faculty of Penn State University in 1993 and is now the Horace Hearne Chair in Theoretical Physics at Louisiana State University. He and his wife (Gabriela Gonzalez) moved there in 2001.

Dr. Pullin's research focuses on the study of the theory of gravity, in particular, he studies the implications of black hole collisions and also how we may be able to unite our understanding of quantum theory with that of gravity. He has co-authored the book Loops, Knots, Gauge Theories and Quantum Gravity (1996) with his longtime collaborator Rolofo Gambini of Uruguay.

In addition to being a Fellow of the APS, Dr. Pullin is also a Fellow of the AAAS, and he was awarded the Edward A. Bouchet Award of the APS in 2001.

Luis A. Orozco

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:38:45 GMT

Luis A. Orozco was born in 1958 in Guadalajara, Mexico. As an undergraduate he attended the Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (ITESO) and earned bachelor degrees in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. In 1987 he obtained a Ph. D. in Physics at the University of Texas (Austin) which was followed by a post-doc at Harvard University. Dr. Orozco began working at SUNY Stony Brook in 1991 but moved to the University of Maryland in 2003.

Luis Orozco's research focuses on the areas of quantum optics and laser spectroscopy. Specifically his papers center on 2 broad areas - trapping atoms in a cavity and testing the predictions of quantum electrodynamics (the theory describing the interaction of light and matter) and studying the spectrum of francium (the most massive of the simple gases).

His work therefore requires studying and characterizing both the quantum and statistical nature of light.

Dr Orozco was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1995, a Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2003, and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2005. And he has been a Distinguished Traveling Lecturer for the Division of Laser Science of the American Physical Society since 2002.

Ellen Ochoa

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:33:03 GMT

Ellen Ochoa was born on May 10, 1958 in Los Angeles, CA. She earned a bachelors degree in physics from San Diego State University in 1980 and went on to study electrical engineering at Stanford University obtaining a M.S. (1981) and a Ph.D. (1985). After graduating she worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM and then later at NASA's Ames Research Center designing and building optical systems. Dr. Ochoa is the co-inventor of three optical systems - a system for inspecting components; a system that can characterize an object well enough that a computer can "recognize" it; and a method to minimize distortion of an image. Inspired by Sally Ride, Ellen Ochoa applied to the astronaut program. In 1990 she was accepted by NASA into the astronaut program and has been in space four times (1993, 1994, 1999, 2002).

Dr. Ochoa served as Payload Commander on the 1994 flight and the 1999 flight was the first docking with the International Space Station. She served as Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson Space Center from December 2002 until September 2006 when she became Director of Flight Crew Operations. In September 2007, Dr. Ochoa was named to be the Deputy Director of the Johnson Space Center. Among her many awards as an inventor, astronaut, and engineer are two unusual ones -- two schools are named in her honor. The Ellen Ochoa Learning Center (pre-K through 8th grade) opened June 2006 in Bell, CA and the Ellen Ochoa Middle School in Pasco, WA opened in 2003. In 2008, HENAAC selected Ellen Ochoa as Hispanic Engineer of the Year.

More details can be found at her biographical website at NASA http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ochoa.html, referenced 23 October 2007, and at the Hispanic Heritage website http://gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/bio/ochoa_e.htm, referenced 23 October 2007.

Mario J. Molina

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:29:36 GMT

Mario J. Molina was born in Mexico City March 19, 1943. He attended the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). Though he was interested in physical chemistry, at the time the University did not offer the courses for the degree and so he studied chemical engineering obtaining his undergraduate degree in 1965. He attended the University of Frieberg and obtained the equivalent of a master's degree in 1967. Before continuing his graduate work Mario Molina returned to UNAM and helped establish the chemical engineering graduate program. But in 1968 he enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley and completed his Ph.D. in 1972. In 1973 Dr. Molina joined F. Sherwood Rowland as a post-doc to conduct experiments on the effect of chemical pollutants on the upper atmosphere. They discovered that a particular type of pollutant, chloroflourocarbons (CFCs), when exposed to ultraviolet radiation would break apart and the chlorine would then chemically react to the ozone atoms in the upper atmosphere, effectively destroying our protection from dangerous ultraviolet radiation. For their work Molina, Sherwood and Paul Crutzen (who was independently working on the same problem) shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995. Their work led to the widespread banning of CFCs. Dr. Molina has worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1982-89) and held joint appointments at MIT in the Department of of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Department of Chemistry (1989-2004). In 2004 Mario Molina moved to San Diego with a joint appointment between the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of UCSD and the Scripps Institute. His work now focuses on pollution in the lower atmosphere. Mario Molina's life and works were highlighted as part of "An Atmosphere of Change", an episode in the 1996 PBS series BreakThrough: The Changing Face of Science in America. He also wrote a brief autobiography which is archived as part of the Nobel Prize archives at (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1995/molina-autobio.html), accessed 23 October 2007.

Jose P. Mestre

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:24:48 GMT

Jose P. Mestre received a bachelor's degree and a Ph. D. (1979) in physics from the University of Massachusetts. Though trained in nuclear physics his interests migrated to questions of how people learn physics and science in general. While at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst he helped establish the Scientific Reasoning Research Institute. Since 2005 Dr. Mestre has held joint appointments both as a full professor in Physics and a full professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition, he is on the faculty of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Study and Technology at UIUC as a cognitive scientist.

Jose Mestre's questions center on the differences between expert and novice approaches to the organization and application of knowledge and problem solving approaches. He has also studied how we can use our growing understanding of how people learn in order to better design instruction using peer, active learning strategies. He has published extensively and by 2005 had co-authored or co-edited 17 books including Transfer of Learning From a Modern Multidisciplinary Perspective (2005), Anglo and Hispanic Students' Misconceptions in Mathematics (ERIC, 1989), and Linguistic and Cultural Influences on Learning Mathematics (1988).

Dr. Mestre was a member of the National Task Force for Undergraduate Physics (2000/04), a program designed to investigate characteristics of successful, sustaining undergraduate physics programs and what we could learn from these programs. This was the guiding body for the influential SPIN-UP reports - Strategic Programs in Undergraduate Physics: Project Report (AAPT, 2003) and Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics at Two-Year Colleges: Best Practices of Physics Programs (AAPT, 2005). In addition, Jose Mestre was one of the 75 leaders in physics/physics education whose interview appears in the 75th anniversary booklet of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 75: Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence in Enhancing the Understanding and Appreciation of Physics Through Teaching (AAPT, 2006).