Jordan A. Goodman Professor and Chair Department of Physics

From the Physics Chair

By Jordan A. Goodman
Professor and Chair

Dear Colleagues,

As we wrap up another academic semester and another calendar year here in the Department of Physics, I want to remind you of what great progress we've made this past year - and to remind you that, to continue to be successful, we are depending upon alumni and friends like you to make an investment in Physics at Maryland.

The good news this year is very good. Despite several years of drastically diminishing state support, the Department has grown with five new world-class faculty and a bright new class of scholars that gives us a total of more than 400 (200 undergraduate and 200 graduate) of the premier students from across the country and around the globe. We've strengthened our rigorous academic curriculum and our innovative research programs. Faculty, students and staff alike have received many awards from the campus and the science community for their fine work.

An investment from you will help ensure that this level of success continues. There are many ways for you to support a specific initiative that you care about. For example, the Physics Scholarship and Award Fund is a very effective student recruitment and retention activity. It allows us to give new laptop computers to our top incoming physics majors - most of whom were offered impressive University scholarships such as the Banneker/Key - as an extra incentive to study here at Maryland.

We are also very interested in establishing a named fellowship to support the recruitment of top post-doctoral associates. A fellowship of this kind would fortify our cutting-edge research with young talent and provide some of the world's rising star physicists with mentorship opportunities from our world-class faculty.
In addition, we can help you establish your own endowment and/or fund - in your name, the name of a loved one/colleague or anonymous -to support Physics at Maryland. The goal of the fund can be as specific or general as you like. Please contact me at goodman@umdgrb.umd.edu or 301-405-5946 to discuss the details further.

Of course, our biggest fundraising target is the physical sciences complex. A flagship gift will help launch construction of this much-needed building sooner than 2010 - when it is currently planned to commence. I know that most, if not all, of you are thinking - how can I help with such a big project? The answer is to think hard about people you know, or people who know people, who would be interested in being a major benefactor for one of the top physics departments in the country. Our fundraising campaign for this building will require that we look beyond ourselves and we need all of you to keep this goal in mind.

For more information about the physical sciences complex, as well as information about the many other initiatives that could benefit from your contribution, please click here. With your help, we can continue to move the Department forward, further improving our groundbreaking research and renowned academic program.

Sincerely,

Jordan A. Goodman
Professor and Chair

P.S. All donations are tax deductible.