From the 2009 Physics Alumni Newsletter
Let me update you on what has happened in the Physics Department since I last wrote to you. We have had three significant personnel changes, three faculty members and two graduate students have won prestigious awards, and a few other things of note have occurred. I’ll begin with our personnel changes.
Jacquelyn Fetrow became Dean of the College on January 1 of this year. She will remain a Reynolds Professor and plans to continue with her research program in computational biophysics. We wish her the best in this new and very important position.
Oana Jurchescu has been hired as Rick Matthew’s replacement. You may recall that in April 2008 Rick became the Associate Provost for Information Systems. Oana’s research is in the general area of condensed matter physics. Her research interests include organic electronics, flexible electronics (organic and organic/inorganic hybrids) and organic spintronics. She received her Ph.D. in 2006, from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. From 2007 she was a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University, and a guest researcher in the Semiconductor Electronics Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Our faculty members have been so successful in obtaining grants that we have been able to hire a business manager for the Physics Department. Gloria Stickney, who was previously in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Wake Forest, began working for us on Oct. 1 of last year.