Sonoma State University

Award Winning Speakers

What Physicists Do

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has presented the "What Physicists Do" series each semester since Spring 1971. The entire history of the series includes more than 1000 speakers, many of which are prestigious award winners.

Bruce Medal

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Frank Shu UC San Diego the Future of Energy
Dr. Sandra M. Faber Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz Scientific Results From the Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field Planetary Camera
Dr. Edwin Salpeter Cornell University Are Stars Older Than the Universe?
Dr. Donald E. Osterbrock Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz Lick Observatory: The First Century
Dr. Sandra M. Faber Lick Observatory and the University of California, Santa Cruz Irregularities in the Expansion of the Universe
Dr. William A. Fowler California Institute of Technology the Quest for the Origin of the Elements
Dr. Robert Kraft Lick Observatory The University Of California 10-Meter Telescope Project
Dr. Allan Sandage Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories The Age Of The Universe
Dr. Donald E. Osterbrock Lick Observatory Active Galactic Nuclei
Dr. Vera C. Rubin Carnegie Institution of Washington How Galaxies Rotate
Dr. Frank H. Shu University of California, Berkeley Understanding Spiral Galaxies
Dr. Robert Kraft Lick Observatory and the University of California, Santa Cruz Transmutation Of Elements In Stars
Dr. Sandra Faber University of California, Santa Cruz Observations Of Elliptical Galaxies
Dr. Robert P. Kraft UC Santa Cruz, Lick Observatory Recent Results Of X-Ray Astronomy

Crafoord Prize

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Roger Blandford Stanford University Cosmic Tennis
Dr. Edwin Salpeter Cornell University Are Stars Older Than the Universe?
Dr. Allan Sandage Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories The Age Of The Universe

Macarthur Fellow

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Raymond Jeanloz University of California, Berkeley Science and Global Security
Dr. Richard Muller University of California at Berkeley Physics for Future Presidents
Ned Kahn Turbulent Fields
Dr. Peidong Yang University of California at Berkeley Nanowiring the Future
Dr. Carl Haber Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recovering Historical Sound Recordings Using Optical Methods
Dr. Margaret Murnane University of Colorado and JILA Ultrafast Light Pulses — Life in the Fast Lane
Dr. Richard Muller University of California at Berkeley Ice Ages and the Earth's Orbit
Dr. David B. Goldstein Natural Resources Defense Council Physicists Take on Global Warming
Dr. Douglas Osheroff Stanford University Fascination With a Cold World
Dr. Douglas Osheroff Stanford University What Happens Near Absolute Zero?
Dr. Raymond Jeanloz University of California at Berkeley A Tour Through Spaceship Earth
Dr. Rob Shaw MacArthur Fellow the Paradox of Prediction

National Medal of Science

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Sally Dodson-Robinson California Institute of Technology Chemistry of Planet Formation
Dr. Darleane Hoffman University of California at Berkeley the Long Sought Superheavy Elements
Dr. Calvin F. Quate Stanford University the Silicon Chip as a New Frontier for Nanometer Structures
Professor Marvin L. Cohen University of California at Berkeley Predicting New Materials: Alchemy With Computers
Dr. Sandra M. Faber Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz Scientific Results From the Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field Planetary Camera
Dr. Sandra M. Faber Lick Observatory and the University of California, Santa Cruz Irregularities in the Expansion of the Universe
Dr. Darleane C. Hoffman UC Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory How Many Elements Are There?
Dr. William A. Fowler California Institute of Technology the Quest for the Origin of the Elements
Dr. Allan Sandage Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories The Age Of The Universe
Dr. Marvin L. Cohen University of California, Berkeley Predicting Properties Of Solids
Dr. Arthur L. Schawlow Stanford University Spectroscopy In A New Light
Dr. Melvin Calvin University of California, Berkeley Solar Energy Capture And Storage By Water Splitting
Dr. Vera C. Rubin Carnegie Institution of Washington How Galaxies Rotate
Dr. W.K.H. Panofsky Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Arms Control And Salt
Dr. W. K. H Panofsky Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Experimental Evidence For The New Family Of Quarks
Dr. Sandra Faber University of California, Santa Cruz Observations Of Elliptical Galaxies

Nobel Prize

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Carl Wieman Stanford University Taking a Scientific Approach to Science Education
Dr. Herbert Kroemer University of California, Santa Barbara Quasi-Electric Fields and Band Offset: Teaching Electrons New Tricks
Dr. Saul Perlmutter E. O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Weighing the Universe With Supernovae
Dr. Richard Taylor Stanford University Finding the Quarks
Dr. Douglas Osheroff Stanford University Fascination With a Cold World
Dr. Douglas Osheroff Stanford University What Happens Near Absolute Zero?
Dr. George Smoot Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Observational Cosmology With Cobe
Dr. Melvin Schwartz Digital Pathways, Inc. the First High Energy Neutrino Experiment
Dr. Donald A. Glaser University of California, Berkeley the Human Visual System: Should You Believe What You See?
Dr. Robert B. Laughlin Stanford University the Quantum Hall Effect
Dr. William A. Fowler California Institute of Technology the Quest for the Origin of the Elements
Dr. Arthur L. Schawlow Stanford University Spectroscopy In A New Light
Dr. Melvin Calvin University of California, Berkeley Solar Energy Capture And Storage By Water Splitting
Dr. Owen Chamberlain University of California, Berkeley The Time Projection Chamber — New Particle Detector
Dr. Emilio Segré University of California at Berkeley The Discovery Of The Neutron
Professor F. Bloch Stanford University How I Became A Physicist