Three FSU physicists awarded named professorship

Three Physics Department professors have been awarded named chairs by a committee of FSU leaders.

Kirby W. Kemper, the John D. Fox Professor of Physics

Department Chair Kirby Kemper was named the John D. Fox Professor of Physics. Kemper has received many awards for his experimental work on nuclear reaction mechanisms and nuclear structure. Most recently, he received the Jesse Beams Award from the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society for excellence in research. Kemper's chair is named after Professor John D. Fox, former Director of FSU's Nuclear Physics Laboratory and co-discoverer of isobaric analog resonances.

Joseph Owens, the Gunther Schwarz Professor of Physics

Former Physics Department Chair Joseph "Jeff" Owens was named the Gunther Schwarz Professor of Physics. Owens' theoretical work in high energy physics has established him as one of the most important international figures in the effort to understand the wealth of data produced by the world's high energy physics laboratories. Owens is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. As a member of the FSU Physics Department during its early years, Schwarz had a special interest in the arts and made significant contributions to the undergraduate program.

Mark Riley, the Raymon K. Sheline Professor of Physics

Professor Mark Riley now holds a professorship named for his frequent collaborator, Raymond K. Sheline. Riley's work in the physics of rapidly rotating atomic nuclei has earned him many plaudits, including the chairmanship of the 2001 Nuclear Chemistry Gordon Conference and the chairmanship of the APS Committee on Publications. Sheline was a leader in the nuclear structure revolution during the 1950s, and he won the American Chemical Society Prize in Nuclear Chemistry in 1998. Sheline held a joint appointment in FSU's Departments of Physics and Chemistry.

The department now holds six named professorships.