AKPA NEWS, February 2003

(Association of Korean Physicists in America)

1. AKPA General Meeting and Traditional Dinner at APS March Meeting in Austin, TX

2. Dr. Huang Lee of NASA JPL wins the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA)-2003

3. AKPA acknowledges Dr. K. Kang for his effort to promote AKPA-KPS collaboration

4. Membership Dues and Contributions: List of the current contributors

5. Remembering Professor Daniel Chonghan Hong

6. Announcement for the Traditional Wednesday Dinner

Dear AKPA members,

This winter in Chicago has been very mild. I hope you all had a good winter as well.

Please read through this newsletter as it contains a few important announcements including the AKPA General Meeting and Traditional Dinner and the selection of the OYRA award. I am also happy to be able to acknowledge Dr. K. Kang for his effort for AKPA and KPS.

I must also transmit the sad news that Professor Daniel Hong, an internationally renowned theoretical physicist who worked hard for the cause of AKPA, passed away last year. Please refer to his obituary prepared by Drs. M.Y. Han, Y. W. Kim, and B. Y. Oh, all former AKPA presidents, in item 4.

Please also note that the membership dues and contributions have been arriving somewhat slowly this year. Please help us to change this situation.

With warmest regards and best wishes,

Kwang-Je Kim

AKPA president

1. AKPA General Meeting and Traditional Dinner at APS March Meeting in Austin, Texas

AKPA General Meeting and the three-decade-old Traditional Annual Dinner Meeting for all Korean Participants (from all over the world) of the APS March Meeting (March 3-10, 2003) will be held at 6:30 P.M., March 5 (Wednesday) at Korea Garden (6519 North Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78752, 512-302-3149 or 512- 302-3488). Usually, the dinner meeting is attended by 70-90 people including visitors from Korea. See the announcement at the bottom of the page (item 6) for more details. Contact person: Professor Yung Kee Yeo (Yung.Yeo@AFIT.edu).

2. Dr. Huang Lee of JPL wins Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA)-2003

Dr. Huang Lee of NASA Jet Propulsion Lab has won this year's OYRA for his outstanding work in non-linear and linear optics work. Other awardees are Dr. Kenneth Kim, Lawrence Livermore National Lab (honorable mention for his work in innovative theoretical microbiology), and Dr. Dong Ryeol Lee (honorable mention for his work on x-ray and neutron scattering experiment and theory). The awards will be presented during the AKPA General Meeting and the three-decade-old Traditional Annual Dinner Meeting to be held at 6:30 P.M., March 5 (Wednesday) at Korea Garden (6519 North Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78752, 512-302-3149 or 512- 302-3488)

We thank the following Award Committee members for their service:

Chueng Ryong Ji (North Carolina St.)

M. Howard Lee (U. Georgia)

Young Hoon Kim (U. Cincinnati)

Young Kee Kim(U. of Chicago)

Woowon Kang (U. of Chicago)

Sungkwun Lyo (Sandia National Laboratories, Chair)

3. AKPA acknowledges Dr. K. Kang for his effort to promote AKPA-KPS collaboration

During the 2003 AKPA General Meeting, we will acknowledge Professor Kyungshik Kang of Brown University for his truly exceptional contribution promoting the joint collaboration between the AKPA and the Korean Physical Society for the occasion of the KPS Jubilee Meeting in 2002. A summary report of the meeting and AKPA participation by Dr. Kang will appear in the next AKPA News Letter.

4. AKPA Membership Dues and Contributions: List of the current contributors

The AKPA activities rely entirely on the regular membership ($25) and the associate membership ($5) (graduate students). A donation of any amount will also be appreciated. Please send your check to Dr. Hoydoo You, MSD 223, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439. Please make sure to put your return address on the envelope.

Following is the list of the contributors of the basic membership ($25), plus donations of $25 - $49 (*), $50 - $99 (**), $100 - $149 (***), $150 - $199 (****), $200 - $250 (*****), $500- (#), $700-(##) (as of February 2003):

Dr. Kwangje Kim** Dr. Hong Mook Kim* Dr. Howard Kim

Dr. Jaewook Ahn Dr. Ho Jung Paik Dr. Hyuk Yu***

Dr. Quiesup Kim***** Dr. Eun-suk Seo*** Dr. Hoydoo You

5. Remembering Dr. Daniel Chonghan Hong (1956 - 2002)

Dr. Daniel Chonghan Hong died on July 6, 2002, of cardiac arrest at the age of 46 after a period of hospitalization. An active theoretical physicist specializing in statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics, he was educated in Seoul National University, graduating with a B.S. and an M.S. degree in physics in 1979 and 1981, respectively. He then enrolled in Boston University for doctoral education, earning a Ph.D in physics in 1985. After postdoctoral research appointments at UC-Santa Barbara and Emory University, he joined the physics faculty at Lehigh University in 1988 as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994 and to Professor in 2000. His work ranged from percolation network, viscous fingering, granular flows to traffic equations. The so-called void diffusion model, developed by Dr. Hong and a Lehigh colleague, is widely recognized as an effective theoretical model for treating a broad range of dynamical phenomena in granular media. His recent formal treatment of the popcorn-making process had enjoyed attention both from the physics community and the lay public. He actively engaged broader audiences by writing popular magazine articles on varied topics ranging from science to philosophy to religion. He had collaborations going with numerous theorists all over the world.

Professor Hong served as Editor of the AKPA Newsletter three different times: 1995-96 (volume 17), 1996-97 (volume 18), and 1999-2000 (volume 21). All through the years Daniel saw the unique role of the scientific Newsletter in the service to the members and willingly accepted the chores of editorship. His vision and dedication are reflected in the pages of the three volumes he helped edit. As we reread these volumes, we feel the presence of his kindred spirit - his legacy for the AKPA he cared much for.

Professor Hong also served as a member of the Editorial Board of an international newsletter, KASTN, the Korean American Science and Technology News, published weekly by SKAS, the Society of Korean American Scholars. His broad interest in topics of philosophy and religion, beyond science, made his editorial task an indispensable part of making the contents of the newsletter. His love of Korea, and defense of Korean culture, contributed greatly to the balanced points of view for the editorial task. Many earlier volumes of the newsletter, now seven years old, carry his legacy of undiluted love of all things that are Korean.

His wife, three daughters, and a son survive him. His death is a tragic loss of an energetic teacher and a very productive career. His legacy will endure the passage of time, however.

Moo-Young Han

Former President of AKPA

Yong-Wook Kim

Former President of AKPA

Benedict Y. Oh

Former President of AKPA

6. Traditional APS March Wednesday Dinner Meeting for the Year 2003

Please join us at the Traditional APS March Dinner Meeting for the year 2003.

Place: Korea Garden

Address: 6519 North Lamar Blvd, Austin, Texas 78752

Tel: (512) 302-3149 or (512) 302-3488

Time: 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, 2003

Transportation: Van Service* (about 20 min driving distance)

*All participants will meet near the APS message board at the Convention Center, and only limited number of people (14 &14) can have a van service to the restaurant. The first two vans (14 people) will leave at 5:20 p.m. sharp at the Convention center. The second two vans (14 people) will leave from the Convention Center at 6:00 p.m.. The van service will apply “first come first serve” rule. All others will take a friend’s car or a taxi to the restaurant. For taxi users (with a full load), a limited amount of the fare will be compensated if the AKPA fund allows.

Cost: $20 per person (Graduate Students: $10)

Sponsor: Association of Korean Physicists in America

P.S. This traditional annual APS March Wednesday dinner meeting has been held for the past three decades, and it has been a good occasion to meet old friends, junior and senior friends, and Korean engineers and scientists. We hope that we will all have very fruitful fellowship sharing and meaningful professional discussions at this dinner meeting. The Dinner Meeting place has been arranged by Dr. Young Seok Song.