Spring 2024: A message from Department Chair Ed Cackett
Dear alumni and friends of WSU Physics and Astronomy,
As an astronomer, April 2024 has been an exciting time with the total solar eclipse at the beginning of the month. For a week or so you could hardly look at the news without hearing something about it!
Wayne State faculty and staff did various media interviews explaining how to safely view the eclipse and what to expect. Many traveled far and wide to view it too. April is typically a pretty cloudy month, so I banked on historically getting better weather down in Texas while others took the shorter drive down to Ohio. Though there were some clouds about, everyone I’ve spoken to was treated to a fantastic view during totality.
Here in Detroit the eclipse only got to 99.5%. Even though that is not quite enough to experience the full effects of totality, the campus community was thrilled to look through solar telescopes operated by our own staff and graduate students. Where and how did you experience the eclipse? We’d love to hear your stories and see your picture – please share them with us at physics@wayne.edu!
As the academic year is winding down, it is a time to reflect on the achievements and successes over the last nine months. Our faculty, students and postdoctoral researchers continue to produce high-profile results and be recognized with awards for their achievements, many of which are highlighted in our spring 2024 newsletter.
Thanks to generous donations from alumni and friends, we are also able to award scholarships to students at our annual Vaden Miles Memorial Lecture. We were thrilled to support the students with $86,000 in scholarships for the next academic year. Your giving makes a real impact on the journey and success of our students – thanks for your continued support!
As always, we enjoy hearing how our alumni are getting on and what they are up to now. Our students also really value learning about possible career paths. So, to help us present a full picture of the successes of our alumni, we hope you will complete a very quick survey. If you would ever be willing to stop by and speak with current students, please let me know!
Best wishes,
Ed Cackett, professor and chair