LeRoy Apker Award

An Undergraduate Physics Achievement Award

To recognize outstanding achievements in physics by undergraduate students, and thereby provide encouragement to young physicists who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific accomplishment. Two awards may be presented each year, one to a student from a Ph. D. granting institution and one to a student from a non-Ph. D. granting institution. The award to the recipient(s) consists of $5,000, an allowance for travel to the meeting of the Society at which the award is being presented, and a certificate citing the work and school of the recipient. Each of the finalists in this annual competition will receive an honorarium of $2,000 and a certificate as an Apker award Finalist. Certificates and awards will also be presented to the Physics Departments whose nominees become finalists and recipients. The awards to the nominating Physics Departments will be $5,000 for the recipients and $1,000 for the finalists. The purpose of the awards to the Physics Department is to support undergraduate research. The award is to be presented annually.

Establishment & Support

The award was established as a memorial to LeRoy Apker through an endowment donated by Jean Dickey Apker.

Rules & Eligibility

Nominations are open to students at colleges and universities in the United States who were enrolled as undergraduates during at least part of the 12-month period preceding the submittal deadline. Only one graduate may be nominated per department. The candidate should have completed or be completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree with an excellent academic record and should have demonstrated exceptional potential for scientific research by an original contribution to physics.

Nomination & Selection Process

The deadline for submission of nominations is June 20, 2010.

Nomination Procedure:

The nomination should include:

1. a letter of nomination from the head of the physics department,
   
2. an official copy of the student's academic transcript,
   
3. the student's original contribution, such as a manuscript or reprint of a research publication or senior thesis (unbound), and a 1,000-word summary thereof, written by the student,
   
4. two letters of recommendation from physicists who know the candidate's individual contribution to the work submitted,
   
5. the nominee's address and telephone number during the summer.

We are requesting that materials be sent as PDF FILES to APKER@APS.ORG, for easy sharing with the Selection Committee. Letters can be signed electronically or physically. In the latter case, they should be digitally scanned. It would be especially convenient if the materials were combined into a single PDF FILE by the nominator, but this is not required. File names should include the name of the nominee. Nomination packets submitted by mail should be sent to the address below to arrive NOT LATER THAN 20 June 2010:

2009 LeRoy Apker Award Recipient(s):
Bilin Zhuang
Wellesley College
Kathryn Greenberg
Mount Holyoke College

Past Recipients:

2008:	Byron C. Drury Sujit S. Datta
2007:	Bryce Gadway Matthew Becker
2006:	Huanqian Loh Hugh Churchill Stephanie Moyerman
2005:	David W. Miller Matthew Paoletti Nathaniel Craig
2004:	Jonathan Heckman Nathan Oken Hodas
2003:	Nathaniel Stern Peter Onyisi
2002:	Jason Alicea S. Charles Doret
2001:	Kathryn Todd Robert Wagner
2000:	Heather J. Lynch Jacob Jonathan Krich Steven J. Oliver
1999:	Brian Gerke Govind Krishnaswami
1998:	Brian Richard D'Urso Gwendolyn Rae Bell
1997:	Anna Lopatnikova Cameron Geddes
1996:	Benjamin S. Williams Christopher Schaffer
1995:	Benjamin F. Williams Frederick B. Mancoff
1994:	Arthur Chu Brandon C. Collings Steven S. Gubser
1993:	David I. Kaiser
1992:	Christopher Barnes and Justin Mortara
1991:	Dean Lee and Stephen Quake
1990:	Charles J. Brabec
1989:	Deborah L. Kuchnir and Steven H. Simon
1988:	Leo R. Radzihovsky
1987:	Gerard C.L. Wong and C. James Yeh
1986:	Terrence L. Hwa
1985:	Julia W.P. su
1984:	Tak Leuk Kwok
1983:	Raymond E. Goldstein
1982:	Subir Sachdev
1981:	Mark B. Ritter
1980:	Richard P. Binzel
1979:	Louis A. Bloomfield
1978:	David E. Heckerman