By Karrie Sue Hawbaker, Editor

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the latest issue of The Photon. We have lots of good news in this issue -- especially from our alumni. Dr. Bennett (B.S., '78), who has had a very successful career at NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center, has just been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This high honor comes on the heels on the widely publicizes success of his WMAP experiment, which gleaned valuable information about the "baby" universe. And, in this alumni spotlight, we meet Stuart Cooley (B.S., '81), who has applied his physical sciences in a very interesting -- and environmentally conscious -- way. He's working to make Santa Monica, CA a more energy efficient place to live and work through his energy and green building programs. The difference between the careers of these two alums -- both of which make the Department very proud -- is just a reminder of the variety of intriguing and fulfilling careers one can pursue with a career in physics. For those of you students wishing to find out more, I hope you take the opportunity to talk with our studnet services personnel about opportunities or email mail if you have questions for these specific alums. And for the rest of you alumni reading, please feel free to let me know what you're up to so that I can share it with our physics family.

Enjoy the rest of the issue!

Best regards,