Dear Colleagues,

As many of you already know, this semester will be my last as department chair. It has been an interesting and challenging (nearly) seven years. I believe in our system of rotating chairs, and after seven years, it is certainly time for me to rotate out. I look forward to continuing my role as an active faculty member in one of the great physics departments in the world. Our particle astrophysics group has recently joined the IceCube experiment that promises to generate exciting new results in high energy neutrino astronomy. In fact, I am currently on route to the South Pole, as we are deploying and commissioning strings of photodetectors deep under the ice in Antarctica . You can get more information about the IceCube project at: http://icecube.wisc.edu/ . Also, my administrative duties during my term have not allowed me to continue teaching, and I am looking forward to returning to the classroom next fall.

The search for a new department chair is already underway. The Dean has established a committee which has recently begun the process of soliciting nominations for the new chair. I ask that all of you provide your input to the committee. This is a critical component of this important process.

In my last few months as chair, I hope to continue the momentum that we have created over the past few years. Currently, we're working on searches for new faculty. We hope to add several excellent faculty in various research areas. Over the next few months, we will have several of the world's leading physicists interviewing for these positions. I am confident that these new additions will fast become great assets to our department.

We are also continuing to move forward with the Physical Sciences Complex (PSC). I strongly believe that this building will help transform the University of Maryland from a competitor to a national leader in the physical sciences. I am proud to have played a part in the crucial early stages of development of the PSC. Over the past year we have been working with the School of Architecture to create concept designs. To view these exciting designs, please go to: http://www.physics.umd.edu/PSC/

This is going to be an exciting semester and I'm glad to see we're already off to a great start. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at goodman@icecube.umd.edu.

Regards,

Jordan A. Goodman
Professor and Chair