NSHP - National Society of Hispanic Physicists

The Mission of Our Society

The purpose of this society is to promote the professional well-being and recognize the accomplishments of Hispanic physicists within the scientific community of the United States and within society at large.

The Society seeks to develop and support efforts to increase opportunities for Hispanics in physics and to increase the number of practicing Hispanic physicists, particularly by encouraging Hispanic students to enter a career in physics.

from our Constitution

The two brief paragraphs from our Constitution point directly to the heart of our Society's mission.

The American physics community at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the 21st is still amazingly under-represented in terms of the number of practicing Hispanic physicists.

There has been much speculation as to why this condition occurred or why it has persisted in spite of decades of discussion and effort (though arguably the effort has been unfocused on a community-wide scale). But the Society has decided to undertake addressing this issue through four very broad activities.

By promoting the study of physics among Hispanic students. This includes encouraging and mentoring students where appropriate, developing resources for undergraduate study, research, and participation in the scientific community. And also to serve as role models for the students and a resource for their families when needed.
By identifying and heralding the accomplishments of Hispanic faculty and students. There are so few of us in physics that significant and noteworthy accomplishments are too often lost among the crowd. And so valuable and important accomplishments frequently go unnoticed and un-remarked. Our society intends to recognize and celebrate these accomplishments of faculty and students in research, teaching, study, mentoring and outreach. Particularly since so many institutions do not yet have a way of recognizing these significant activities.
By providing a forum through which Hispanic faculty and students can come together and celebrate not just the pursuit, and passion, of science but also sharing a rich and vibrant culture.
By working with the larger physics community as teachers, faculty, administrators, and societies work to transform the physics community into a more inclusive and diversified one. This work includes joining with other societies, developing resources, and highligthting effective practices and programs.