The Jesse W. Beams Research Award, first presented in 1973, was established by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society to recognize especially significant or meritorious research in physics, the major portion of which was carried out while the recipient was resident in the ten-state region of the Southeast. The award is named for Jesse Wakefield Beams, a remarkably broad and productive experimental physicist who received his Ph.D. from and spent most of his career at the University of Virginia. His many outstanding contributions to physics research include: construction of the first electron linear accelerator, development of the magnetic ultracentrifuge with many practical applications in both the physical and biological sciences, and improvement of the Cavendish technique for the determination of the gravitational constant.  He served as president of the American Physical Society in 1958, and received the National Medal of Science in 1967.  The Beams Award honors those whose research led to the discovery of new phenomena or states of matter, provided fundamental insights in physics, or involved the development of experimental or theoretical techniques that enabled others to make key advances in physics, and the contributions of the award recipient should have received the critical acclaim of peers nationally and internationally.

Nomination Information

Nominations for each award should be sent to the appropriate award committee chair by July 15. Four copies of each nomination, consisting of a nominating letter and up to three supporting letters (a maximum of two pages each), should be sent. No other supporting documents are needed.  Nominations will be considered active for three years, though updating materials for nominees not chosen in the prior year is encouraged. Past winners are listed below. The nominator is also asked to send an email to the Chair David Ernst and Vice-Chair Laurie McNeil of the Section informing them of the submission.

Send Materials to: Alan T. Dorsey Professor and Department Chair Department of Physics University of Florida P.O. Box 118440 Gainesville, FL 32611-8440 Tel: (352) 392-4031 E-mail: dorsey@phys.ufl.edu

Members of the Beams Award Committee: Chair: Alan T. Dorsey, University of Florida Previous Year's Award Winner: Berndt Mueller, Duke University 3rd Member: Jaqueline Krim, North Carolina State University The Vice-Chair of SESAPS is an ex-officio member of the committee.

Recipients

2008	Herbert Mook, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2007	Berndt Mueller, Duke University
2006	Akuruni V. Ramayya, Vanderbilt University
2005	Thomas Curtright, University of Miami Charles Thorn, University of Florida
2004	Thomas Thundat, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2003	Jerzy Bernholc, North Carolina State University
2002	M. Raymond Flannery, Georgia Institute of Technology
2001	Lynn Boatner, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2000	Kirby Kemper, Florida State University
1999	Uzi Landman, Georgia Institute of Technology
1998	Donald D. Clayton, Clemson University
1997	Gary Mitchell, NC State University
1996	Pierre Sikivie, University of Florida
1995	George Samuel Hurst, University of Tennessee
1994	Frank Avignone, University of South Carolina
1993	Fereydoon Family, Emory University
1992	Edward Bilpuch, Duke University
1991	Robert Compton, Oak Ridge National Lab
1990	Joseph Ford, Georgia Institute of Technology
1989	Arthur Snell, Oak Ridge National Lab
1988	James McCarthy, University of Virginia
1987	David Landau, University of Georgia
1986	Paul Stelson, Oak Ridge National Lab
1985	Hugh Kelly, University of Virginia
1984	Rufus Ritchie, Oak Ridge National Lab
1983	Ivan Sellin, Oak Ridge National Lab
1982	Horst Meyer, Duke University
1981	Albert Fromhold, Auburn University
1980	Horacio Farach, University of South Carolina  Charles Poole, University of South Carolina
1979	Larry Beidenharn, Duke University
1978	E. Dwight Adams, University of Florida
1977	Lawrence Slifkin, UNC-Chapel Hill
1976	Robert Coleman, University of Virginia
1975	Joseph Hamilton, Vanderbilt University
1974	Walter Gordy, Duke University
1973	Earl Plyler, Florida State University