President's message (Dec. 14, 2011)

Dear Fellow AKPA Members, seo dec2011

I am happy to report that the first Korean Plasma Physicist Symposium was held in Salt Lake City, Utah on Tuesday November 15, 2011. This symposium was organized as a Satellite meeting of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics (DPP). The symposium was followed by a banquet. I would like to congratulate and thank the Membership Secretary, Dr. Jong-Kyu Park for organizing this event. Invited speakers included Prof. Su-Hyun Kim, University of Iowa; Dr. Jinyong Kim, National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI); Prof. Yong-Soo Na, Seoul National University; and Dr. Gunsu Yun, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). On behalf of AKPA I would also like to thank Prof. Choong-Seok Chang, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; Prof. Hyeon Park, POSTECH; and Prof. Won-ho Choe, KAIST, for their support. Building on success of the Korean Physicist Symposia at the APS April meeting covering particle, nuclear and astrophysics, and the APS DPP meeting in November, AKPA continues to promote and facilitate Korean meetings at specialized conferences. Look for Korean Physicists meetings and join us. If you do not see one in a conference you attend and if you wish to organize one, contact us. We will be happy to assist you.

As you know, the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA) has been awarded annually since 1994 by the Association of Korean Physicists in America (AKPA), in order to recognize and promote excellence in research by outstanding young ethnic Korean physicists in North America. Nominations for the 2012 OYRA have been received. As all supporting documents are collected, the award committee chaired by Prof. Kyungseon Joo will review applications and select two winners. The winners will be announced early in 2012. The Korean Physical Society (KPS) will sponsor one of the two awards.

The Task Force for International Cooperation continues to work closely with the KPS. Join me in congratulating the KPS for its 60th Anniversary, which will be celebrated the week of April 23 in 2012. Our relationship with the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) is very strong. The number of AKPA members who also registered for KSEA is at a record high. I would like to welcome new members and thank all those who paid their dues, particularly the new life time members, Prof. Philip Kim, Columbia University, and Prof. Yoonseok Lee, University of Florida. Your regular membership fee is not sufficient to cover the expenses of all our activities but the number of members is an important factor for external funding. Please join both KSEA and AKPA. It is important for you to select “AKPA” as your Affiliated Professional Society (APS) on the KSEA web site.

Best Wishes,
Eun-Suk Seo
University of Maryland
29th President of AKPA

Association of Korean Physicists in America

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