|
Student honored with physics leadership awardSept. 5, 2008 KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University senior Jack Winkelbauer of Attica, Mich., is the recipient of a $2,000 Society of Physics Students Leadership Award, bestowed for outstanding academic performance. Wilkelbauer, a physics major with a minor in mathematics, is one of just 18 college students across the country named this year for the honor that encourages the study of physics. His experience includes University research and two summer internships at Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers and the nation's first national laboratory. He also has been president of the WMU chapter of the Society of Physics Students and the University's Physics Club since fall 2007 and is a member of the honor societies Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. "I am completely fascinated with physics and love to learn whenever I have the opportunity. I attend every public lecture I can find and hope to have a career in academia," Wilkelbauer says. After he graduates, he plans to attend graduate school and eventually earn a doctorate in physics. Formed in 1968, the SPS has more than 700 chapters on campuses across the country. About 5,000 students take part in chapter activities each year, making SPS the fourth largest physics society in the country. The associated honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma, now exists in about 450 of those chapters with more than 75,000 inductees throughout its history. For more information, visit Society of Physics Students online. Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu WMU News |
