FPS Awards Recipients

Joseph A. Burton Forum Award

To recognize outstanding contributions to the public understanding or resolution of issues involving the interface of physics and society. The award consists of $3,000, a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient, and an allowance for travel to the meeting of the Society at which the award is presented. It will be awarded annually.

Establishment & Support: The Joseph A. Burton Forum Award is named in recognition of the many contributions of Joseph Burton to the society and to the APS as its Treasurer from 1970 - 1985. The award was endowed in 1997 through a donation from Mrs. LeRoy Apker. The award stems from the former Forum Award for Promoting Public Understanding of the relationship of Physics and Society, established by the Forum on Physics and Society in 1974.

2015 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award Recipient

colglazier15E. William Colglazier
Department of State

Citation: “For his contributions to scientific and public understanding of radioactive waste management, and to U.S. policy on science and technology and global scientific engagement for the betterment of society.”

Dr. E. William Colglazier served as the fourth Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State from 2011 to 2014. His role was to provide scientific and technical expertise and advice in support of the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy.

From 1994 to 2011, he was Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) where he helped to oversee the studies that provide independent, objective advice on public policy issues. He received his B.S. in physics in 1966 and his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1971 from the California Institute of Technology, and prior to 1994 worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Tennessee.

While at Harvard, he also served as Associate Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Humanism of the Aspen Institute. In 1976-77, he was an AAAS Congressional Science Fellow for Congressman George Brown. He is past chair of the Forum on Physics and Society of the APS and Fellow of the AAAS and APS.

Selection Committee: Valerie Thomas, Chair; M.M. May; R.V. Ramana; L. Krauss

Leo Szilard Lectureship Award

To recognize outstanding accomplishments by physicists in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society in such areas as the environment, arms control, and science policy. The lecture format is intended to increase the visibility of those who have promoted the use of physics for the benefit of society. The award consists of $3,000, a certificate citing the contributions of the recipient, plus $2,000 travel expenses for lectures given by the recipient at an APS meeting and at two or more educational institutions or research laboratories in the year following the award. The lectures should be especially aimed at physicists early in their careers.

Establishment & Support: This annual award was established in 1974 by the Forum on Physics and Society as a memorial to Leo Szilard in recognition of his concern for the social consequences of science. The award was endowed in 1998 by donations from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and individuals. It was also expanded to a lectureship format to promote awareness of the application of physics to social problems and to increase the visibility of those engaged in such activities.

2015 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award Recipient

Ashok GadgilAshok Gadgil
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Citation: “For applying physics to a variety of social problems and developing sustainable energy, environmental and public health technologies, as well as demonstrating how these could be scaled up, thus contributing to improved life for millions.”

Ashok Gadgil has a doctorate in physics from UC Berkeley. He is Director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. He has substantial experience in technical, economic, and policy research on energy efficiency and its implementation — particularly in developing countries. For example, the utility-sponsored compact fluorescent lamp leasing programs that he pioneered are being successfully implemented by utilities in several east-European and developing countries. He has several patents and inventions to his credit, among them the “UV Waterworks,” a technology to inexpensively disinfect drinking water in the developing countries, for which he received the Discover Award in 1996 for the most significant environmental invention of the year, as well as the Popular Science award for “Best of What is New – 1996”. In recent years, he has worked on ways to inexpensively remove arsenic from Bangladesh drinking water, and on fuel-efficient stoves for Darfur.

Dr. Gadgil has received several other awards and honors for his work, including the Pew Fellowship in Conservation and the Environment in 1991 for his work on accelerating energy efficiency in developing countries, the World Technology Award for Energy in 2002, the Tech Laureate Award in 2004, the Heinz Award in 2009, the European Inventor Award in 2011. He serves on several international and national advisory committees dealing with energy efficiency, invention and innovation, and issues of development and the environment. He is also a member of the STAP roster of experts of the Global Environmental Facility. In the 2004-5 academic year, Dr. Gadgil was the MAP/Ming Visiting Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University.

At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Dr. Gadgil is part of a group of researchers conducting experimental and modeling research in Indoor Airflow & Pollutant Transport. He has authored or co-authored more than 85 papers in refereed archival journals and more than 100 conference papers.

Selection Committee: Valerie Thomas, Chair; M.M. May; R.V. Ramana; L. Krauss

These contributions have not been peer-refereed. They represent solely the view(s) of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of APS.