Physics professors receive awards at the 2018 Academic Recognition Ceremony
On Apr. 26, 2018, three members of the Department of Physics and Astronomy received awards at Wayne State's 2018 Academic Recognition Ceremony.
Graduate student Renae Conlin won the Garrett T. Heberlein Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award recognizes graduate students who demonstrate instructional excellence. It is designed in part to elevate the attention given to teaching as part of graduate education and the preparation of graduate students to serve as college and university teachers. Professor Alexey Petrov received the Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship Award. Charles H.
Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowships were created to recognize and provide support for members of the faculty whose continuing achievements and current activities in scholarship, research, or the fine and performing arts are nationally distinguished. Professor Joern Putschke received Career Development Chair Award. Career Development Chairs are awarded to recently tenured faculty as part of the university's program to support the teaching and research endeavors of faculty members in the developmental stages of their scholarly careers.
They were established to provide recipients with financial support, encouragement, and recognition at a critical time in their careers. Professor Jogindra Wadehra received the Outstanding Graduate Director Service Award. The Outstanding Graduate Director Service Award is awarded to highlight the important service by graduate directors in advancing graduate education in their programs.
The citations for each of the awards are given below.
Garrett T. Heberlein Endowed Award
"Ms. Renae Conlin is richly deserving of recognition with the Garrett T. Heberlein Endowed Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is approachable, organized, fair, detail-oriented, and knowledgeable. Her enthusiasm helps to make her effective. She quickly establishes rapport with her students, gently caring about her students. In person, she spends as much time as needed with each student. Ms. Conlin is always prepared for her labs. She anticipates student questions, prepares daily notes, and gives respectful hands-on help. She does all of this without sacrificing quality or lowering expectations. The Department of Physics and Astronomy has recognized her excellence and routinely assigns her to teach classes for majors. Ms. Conlin's excellence in teaching helps to prepare and motivate the next generation of scientists."
Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellowship
"Professor Alexey Petrov is a world-class theoretical physicist who is widely recognized for his work in particle physics. Over the past 20 years, he made seminal advances in the field of physics, particularly charmed quark interactions. He is also known for his contributions to indirect searches for New Physics, as documented in over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He has co-authored a textbook for advanced graduate students, Effective Field Theories (World Scientific Publishing Company, Inc.: 2015). His service to the profession includes organizing workshops and conferences, including the recent international CHARM 2015 conference held at Wayne State University. He serves as a Director and a co-PI of Wayne State's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in physics, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Professor Petrov has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (2015) and appointed Comenius Guest Professor at the University of Siegen in Germany (2015-17). Professor Petrov has been continuously funded by the NSF (including a CAREER award) and the Department of Energy since 2003. The present Distinguished Faculty Fellowship Award celebrates Professor Petrov's contributions to research excellence, and his service to Wayne State."
Career Development Chair Award
"Professor Joern Putschke is an outstanding physicist, internationally recognized as a leader in his field of experimental nuclear physics. Tenured in 2016, Dr. Putschke has established a vibrant and exceptional research program in nuclear theory, focusing on the nature of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) which has real day-to-day implications for energy use in our world. The focus of his research is to study the hottest and densest matter ever created in the laboratory, the QGP, at various length scales, utilizing highly energetic partons (jets) produced in the very early stages of a collision. This provides a Rutherford-like measurement of the microscopic properties of the QGP. This work will continue through the funds and time afforded by the Career Development Chair Award. Professor Putschke is also recognized as an excellent teacher and mentor. As highlighted by one of the external reviewers who supported Dr. Putschke with great enthusiasm: "He's highly deserving the recognition and support attached to the WSU Career Development Chair, and I think it would both benefit his career in concrete ways and promote WSU's already recognized role in high-energy nuclear physics research.""
Outstanding Graduate Director Service Award
"Professor Jogindra Wadehra has led the Physics and Astronomy graduate program for more than 16 years. He brought to the role of Graduate Director a depth of knowledge, attention to detail, and a high level of professionalism while balancing discipline and compassion to support the students. His generosity and willingness to help all students, as well as their mentors, and guide them through the graduate program in the Department of Physics and Astronomy has helped to maintain a rigorous and highly regarded graduate program. Especially notable, Dr. Wadehra recognized a lack of diversity in the graduate population in the department and initiated a master's to Ph.D. program to support women and underrepresented students. His leadership role in creating this program has contributed to more than doubling the number of Ph.D. recipients in Physics and Astronomy over the past decade, including an increase in degrees awarded to women and African Americans. Under his leadership, the department's first African American female doctoral student was awarded a Ph.D. in 2014. Dr. Jo Wadehra always has his door open to help students and faculty, for which they are extremely grateful."