Calvin profs named Fellows of the American Physical Society

Calvin physics professors Stan Haan and David Van Baak were recently named Fellows of the American Physical Society. Previous professors Vernon Ehlers and John Van Zytveld have also received this honor.

Van Baak is being honored for his development of lab experiments for undergraduates, which give students hands-on experience with complex physics concepts. His unique designs for lab equipment have been produced with TeachSpin--a small company dedicated to designing and developing apparatus for lab instruction in physics and engineering--for colleges and universities around the world. The APS Forum on Education honored Van Baak "for successfully refining and extending experiments used in the undergraduate curriculum and for promulgating the use of diode lasers in the undergraduate laboratory."

Haan is being honored for his cutting-edge research in atomic physics. His research has spanned nearly three decades, including 54 research papers in top physics journals and a continuous string of grants from the National Science Foundation, dating back to 1987. The APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics honored Haan "for contributions to the theory of photodetachment, photoionization, and photorecombination processes, including quantum and classical models for double ionization of atoms."

Haan and Van Baak have consistently included their students in their work. Dozens of students have been mentored by Haan in summer research projects and are co-authors on publications in top physics journals. Calvin students are the first to try out Van Baak's equipment designs, and questions from students have inspired his lab experiments that are now used on many campuses.

Students who have researched and taken classes with both professors say that Haan and Van Baak are "personable," and "they teach very practical physics." Haan and Van Baak's colleagues echo the students' praise.

"David has directed his career as a physicist to making the instructional laboratory experience challenging, up-to-date, hands-on, transparent and exciting," wrote Jonathan F. Reichert, president of TeachSpin, Inc. in a letter of support for Van Baak. "In my entire career of over 50 years, I can think of few physicists who did comparable work in this important area."

"His success in the undergraduate setting speaks to the extraordinary levels of patience, organizational skill and personal commitment that accompany Stan's outstanding scientific ability," wrote Calvin's dean for research and scholarship Matt Walhout, who nominated Haan for the fellowship.

The two professors will be honored at a reception at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, in Calvin's DeVries Hall Atrium.

-end-
Received on Wed Feb 23 14:08:30 2011