Bonner Book Awards

Tom Bonner was the second chair of the Rice physics department, serving from 1947 until his sudden death in 1961. The Bonner Nuclear Laboratories are of course named after him. He was a nuclear physicist of international renown. The American Physical Society awards the prestigious Bonner Prize in nuclear physics each year in his honor. Here at Rice we honor his memory through the Bonner Book Prizes, given each year to the most outstanding sophomore, junior, senior, and first year graduate students in physics. This award is made possible by the generous gift of Tom Bonner's daughter, Dr. Susan Bonner-Weir. The award monies are used for the purchase of books by the recipient(s). The 2008-2009 awards were Sophomore Recipient-- Wooyoung Hong, Junior Recipient-- Brian Scott Henderson, Senior Recipients-- Jeffrey Russom and Dvir Kafir, and the first year Graduate Recipient-- Jedediah Pixley.

Chuoke Award

Robert Chuoke recieved his doctorate from Rice in 1953 under the direction of William Houston. He had a distinquished career at Shell Development Company, where he was highly regarded for his broad knowledge of physics, and for his special talent in teaching. His early death was a great loss to his family and friends. To honor his memory, this award was established in 1980 to recognize the second and third year graduate students who show the greatest promise in physics as evidenced by performance in course work and speedy progreass in research. The 2008-2009 awards were second year Graduate Student recipients-- Pedro Duarte-Gelvez and Liang Zhao, third year Graduate Student Recipients-- Yen Sun and Jorge Zuloaga.

William and Elva Gordon Fellowship

Bill Gordon was a much-respected long-time member of the Space Physics and Astronomy Department who first came to Rice in 1966 as Dean. He retired twenty years later as Provost and Vice President. He made many contributions to science and engineering and was a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. This, and his great sevice to Rice, is recognized by the fact that he is one of only two Emeritus Professors to hold the title of Distinguished. The award monies are given to the student(s) who demonstrated academic and research achievement in Space Physics or Astronomy. The recipient of the 2008-2009 Gordon Fellowship was Jian Yang.

William F. Marlar Scholarship

William F. Marlar was a businessman in Denver, Colorado, who was tragically disabled as a result of a robbery. His wife, Freda Marlar, assumed the management of the business, which prospered under her direction. She was a staunch American patriot and believer in the free enterprize system. At the time the Soviets launched Sputnick in 1957, she felt that American ingenuity and technical knowledge should be stimulated from the private sector in an effort to equal and eventually surpass the Soviet space accompishments. To aid in this purpose she established the William F. Marlar Memorial Foundation, which has continued to promote her initial purposes, through university grants, since her death in 1968. The 2008-2009 William F. Marlar Scholarship recipient was Deirdre Wendel.

Umland Award

The Eric Umland award recognizes the graduate student who has contributed most to the quality of graduate student life in the physics department. The award is presented in memory of Eric Umland who received his Ph.D. from this department in 1983. Eric was a student very much concerned with the quality of life in our department as well as being an outstanding young physicist. He left Rice for a prestigious fellowship at Cal Tech. He died tragically soon after arriving there in a plane crash. His family and friends have endowed this award in his memory. The 2008-2009 award recipient was Kristjan Stone.

Wilson Award

H. A. Wilson, hired by Edgar Lovett to come to Rice to be the first chair of the physics department. He arrived in 1912 to find a sea of mud with a few buildings under construction. He remained and served the university with distinction for 40 years. This award recognizes the most outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the department each year. The 2008-2009 award recipient was Deirdre Wendel.

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