2006 APS Vice President

Arthur Bienenstock (Stanford/SSRL) has been elected vice president of the American Physical Society (APS) for 2006. Per the organization’s succession system, he will become president elect in 2007, president in 2008 and immediate past president in 2009.

A professor in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Applied Physics and at SSRL, Bienenstock served as director of SSRL from 1978 to 1997. As a senior science adviser to President Clinton from 1997 to 2001, he was a strong advocate for federal research funding and provided guidance on complex scientific and policy issues. In his APS leadership roles, Bienenstock plans to focus on issues including federal funding for research in the physical sciences and engineering (with some emphasis on energy research) and the maintenance of openness in research during a security-conscious era.

DOE Distinguished Associate Award

At the SSRL Users’ Meeting on October 17, Pat Dehmer, Associate Director of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, DOE, presented Bienenstock with a DOE Distinguished Associate Award, with a citation from Samuel W. Bodman, Secretary of Energy.

The citation reads: In recognition of your many accomplishments, contributions, and leadership in both science and science policy. Your exemplary service to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and particularly to the Stanford Synchrotron Laboratory, the Department of Energy, the Nation, and the scientific community has made possible world leading scientific research across disciplinary and geographical boundaries. You have elegantly brought together diverse ideas, peoples, and institutions to work together. You serve to remind scientists of all ages that one person with a vision can truly make a difference.