From the 2017 Physics Alumni Newsletter
This newsletter is from Dany Kim-Shapiro this year rather than Keith Bonin because Keith stepped down as Department Chair on June 30th. He served in that position for 10 years and was an excellent chair, receiving the Academic Leadership award as described below. During his tenure, Keith oversaw the amazing growth of our undergraduate and graduate physics programs. Keith has now resumed his duties as a regular faculty member in the Physics Department.
Richard Williams retired in June. Richard joined the Physics Faculty in 1985 as a Reynolds Professor. He is also one of our alumni and was the first recipient of the Speas award in 1968. Richard has a very active research program with two graduate students, one postdoc, and three active grants on the topic of scintillators. As a result, he is going to keep his laboratory space for the next two years in order to give the graduate students a chance to graduate and to fulfill the obligations of his grants. We wish Richard well in his retirement and are happy that he will continue to be active in research at WFU.
I am very sad to report that we lost our Administrative Assistant, Karen Logan. Karen passed away on July 1, 2017, as the result of a tragic accident in which she and her husband Aaron were hit by a vehicle while crossing a street in Winston-Salem. Aaron survived the accident with minor injuries but unfortunately Karen died several days after the accident. Karen joined the Department of Physics in December 2013. This is an extremely important position in the Department as it is the central staff position with responsibility for running the main Departmental Office and for overseeing all aspects of Departmental affairs. Karen had a strong desire for personal improvement and was taking classes at Salem College to earn her bachelor’s degree and also participated in the WFU Thrive Program. She was a model citizen of the Physics Department and a good example to others. In addition, Karen was a gentle soul with an easygoing personality who always made strangers feel welcome, and who did so much to calm stressed out students, staff, and faculty when issues arose that might cause some tension. We will long remember the many kindnesses and concerns she expressed when family members got sick or needed medical care, and we will miss her sweet demeanor and friendly smile.