Scholarships & Awards

The H. Y. Loh Award, a cash prize awarded upon graduation, became the very first award or scholarship dedicated to our physics majors. As a token of the high esteem in which Professor Loh was regarded by his colleagues, Professor Ray F. Tipsword approached colleagues to create the endowed award, which was first given in 1977.

Professor Hung-Yu Loh first came to Virginia Tech from Shanghai, China in 1941 as a graduate student. He received his master's degree from Tech in 1943, and then went on to Johns Hopkins University where he received his Ph.D. in 1946. He was hired in 1948 to become the first Chinese faculty member at Virginia Tech. His research was in the field of experimental thin film optics,

Prof. Loh was a wonderful teacher and, in 1959, he became the first physics faculty to be awarded the William E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching, which had just been established in 1957. It was then, and still is now, the most prestigious teaching award at Virginia Tech, the honor of which is reserved to only three faculty members per year.

The H. Y. Loh Award is made each spring to the graduating physics major who best exemplifies Dr. Loh's very high academic and personal standards. It is considered the most prestigious award for undergraduates in the physics department.

When the family of late Professor Hugh Dudley Ussery (May 4, 1904 - March 15, 1992) endowed a scholarship in his name in 1984, they established the first such award for the Virginia Tech Physics Department.

Professor Ussery, a native of Lancaster, S.C., was a graduate of Presbyterian College of South Carolina and received a master's degree in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He taught at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C., then joined the faculty of the Physics Department in 1934, and remained at Virginia Tech for 37 years until 1972. He specialized in visible and ultraviolet spectroscopy, and during his time here, he developed a laboratory in optical spectroscopic analysis of which he was very proud.

In 1939, he was awarded the Jefferson Gold Medal of the Virginia Academy of Science, together with Dr. G. M. Shear of the Department of Plant Pathology, for their research on tabacco plant frenching in which Prof. Ussery utilized spectrographic methods to detect thallium in tobacco plants. (Shear and Ussery. Frenching of tobacco distinguished from thallium toxicity by spectrographic analysis. J. Agri. Res. 60: 129-140. 1940.)

His love of music, especially opera and violin, led to his hobby of making violins and repairing them as a community service. On June 14, 1959, he was featured in a Roanoke Times article titled "Physics and music. This unlikely combination has resulted in a fascinating, lifetime hobby for Professor Hugh Ussery of Virginia Tech."

The Daniel C. and Delia F. Grant Scholarships, established in 1990 and named in honor of the parents of Dr. Frederick C. Grant, a doctoral alumnus of the Department, are awarded (1) to an incoming freshman with preference for a national merit scholar, which scholarship is renewable for three more years if the awardee is a national merit scholar and maintains the status of physics major and merit scholar, and (2) to an outstanding rising junior or senior, if the second scholarship is not already awarded to a continuing merit scholar.

The Hamilton Prize is named in honor of Dr. Robert Preston Hamilton, who received his bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 1974. Led by Tech professor Dr. David Jenkins, several generous donors, including Hamilton's classmates, professors, and especially his family, established the Robert Preston Hamilton Prize in 1991, four years after his untimely death from cancer. As a prolific researcher in the field of experimental elementary particle physics, Dr. Hamilton established a notable record in the nine years he lived after receiving his Masters (1976) & Ph.D. (1979) from the University of California at Berkeley, working on experiments at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. This prize is awarded to a student who has exhibuted both career promise and the very high scholastic standards for which Dr. Hamilton was known.

The Alice Estes Martin Endowed Scholarship was established in the Physics Department in 1991 to provide incentive and support to qualified physics majors who are committed to teaching physics in secondary school. Mrs. Martin, for whom the scholarship is named, was a teacher in Louisa County High School (Virginia) from 1941 through 1970. The awarding of this scholarship holds before new teachers those qualities that Mrs. Martin embodied in her love and dedication to teaching: knowledge of her subject, concern for her students, and the ability to inspire her students to learn, all of which led to the utmost respect from students and colleagues.

Mrs. Alice Danne Estes Martin was born in Louisa County on April 8, 1918. She graduated from the College of William and Mary, and received her Master's degree from the University of Virginia. In addition to teaching at Louisa County High School, she was a guidance counselor there as well. Alice was very active in her community - she served on the board of Germanna Community College, and was a member of the House of Burgesses Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames, the Mineral Historic Foundation, and the Louisa County Historical Society. Sadly, Mrs. Martin passed away on April 30, 2010. However, her legacy will live on through the scholarship named in her honor.

This scholarship was initiated by late Professor Dale Donald Long (January 30, 1935 - June 17, 2006), who contributed the funds from his 1991 Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching and named the scholarship for his esteemed former high school teacher. Additional funds needed to endow the scholarship were donated by former students, friends, and family of Alice Estes Martin, as well as alumni and friends of the Physics Department. Donations to the fund have also been made in memory of Thelma L. Roper, the late wife of Professor Emeritus L. David Roper, and in memory of Prof. Dale D. Long.

Early leadership in the development of the Virginia Tech Physics Department was due to the work of one man - Dr. Frank Leigh Robeson (1884-1974), after whom the physics building is now named. Dr. Robeson was the first doctorate level physicist at Virginia Tech, and was the author of a widely adopted physics textbook in the 1940's. A copy of Dr. Robeson's book is on display in Hahn Hall North Wing. He served as Department Head from 1918 to 1954.

In 1995, the Robeson family endowed a scholarship in his honor and memory.

Through a generous gift by an anonymous donor, this scholarship has been established in honor of Dr. Robert C. Richardson, Nobel Laureate and F. R. Newman Professor of Physics at Cornell University.

Dr. Richardson attended Virginia Tech from 1954 to 1960 and earned his bachelor's and master's degress in physics. After a brief time in the United States Army, he returned to graduate school in physics at Duke University where he earned a Ph.D. in 1966. He then went on to Cornell University where he continued his research on low temperature physics, in particular, the study of the properties of liquid and solid Helium-3. In 1971 he discovered, in collaboration with David Lee and Douglas Osheroff, that liquid Helium-3 undergoes a pairing transition similar to that of superconductors. The three were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physics for this discovery.

Both Web and Sara Richardson (who were classmates at VT in the class of 1932) taught in the Virginia Tech Physics Department for several decades, Web from 1936 and Sara from 1948, until they both retired in 1972. In addition to their work with the introductory courses, where they were known for their exacting standards, Sara developed a course called “household physics,” while Web developed an X-ray laboratory where he constructed extensive apparatus of which he was justly proud, and which was used by many of the first graduate students in physics at Virginia Tech.

After Web passed away in October 1997 and Sara in January 1998, this scholarship was established by family members in their memory.

This scholarship was endowed by Dr. Nancy Brown in memory of her late brother, Col. Nelson Carey Brown, Virginia Tech Class of 1965. Col. Brown felt that both his education in physics and the leadership skills he learned in the Corps of Cadets were critical to his professional success.

Dr. Robert Bowden first came to Virginia Tech as a graduate student in 1956. After one year, he left for a brief active duty tour in the U. S. Army to fulfill his ROTC obligation. He returned to the university to get his Master's degree in physics in 1958 with Dr. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr. as his major advisor. He obtained his Ph.D. in physics in 1963 with Dr. Clayton Williams as his major advisor. Dr. Bowden remained at Virginia Tech with a postdoctoral appointment under Dr. Andy Robeson until he joined the physics faculty as an assistant professor in the fall of 1963. He was promoted to associate professor in 1968 and to full professor in 1978. He retired in the spring of 1996.

His published interests and expertise are in mathematical physics, neutron transport, radiative transfer, and analytical, numerical, and chaotic analysis of non-linear integral equations.

His presentation interest is physics education, especially the use of computers in physics teaching. He and his beloved colleague Dale Long developed an extensive set of (software and apparatus) presentations in which data are collected and analyzed live in the classroom.

Since retirement, Dr. Bowden has become what is now called an Emeritus Professor in Residence. He has remained moderately engaged in physics by mentoring high school physics teachers, giving talks to a Governor's school, writing educational software, and teaching an occasional undergraduate physics class at Tech.

He is a big Virginia Tech football fan. One of his favorite stories is about attending the 2000 Sugar Bowl College football championship in New Orleans when Virginia Tech played Florida State. The coach at Florida State is, of course, Bobby Bowden, which happens to be the name that Dr. Bowden's childhood friends call him. To add a little mischief to his trip, he registered with his travel group, his hotel, and his dinner reservations as "Bobby Bowden." His youngest son, Brent, emailed WSLS TV in Roanoke to explain that Bobby Bowden, his wife, and sons would be cheering for Virginia Tech at the game. The TV channel ran a teaser all day claiming that they would have an interview with "Bobby Bowden" during their pregame show explaining how he would be cheering for Virginia Tech.

The tragedy of April 16, 2007 moved many of us to redo and rededicate our service to the University. It was in that spirit that Dr. Bowden's family established the Bowden Physics Essay Competition, not only to reward and honor high promise and good scholarship, but to provide a regular extra curricular activity that would encourage and promote good writing for our undergraduate physics majors. Observation and experimentation are cornerstones of physics. But physics at its core is an amalgam, an abstraction, and an accretion of ideas that makes clear and definitive writing a necessity. It is the Bowdens' hope, their desire, that this competition will become a tradition for our physics majors in their learning to write well, forcefully, and beautifully if they can.

Each year, students will receive an email from the undergraduate advisor regarding the essay submission process.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Robert Bowden

Established by Prof. Beate Schmittmann in 2012, the Wan-Zia Scholarship is endowed through generous donations from the friends and colleagues of Prof. R. K. P. Zia. Intended as a continuation of the C. H. Wan Scholarship, it is awarded to and graduate and/or undergraduate students who are recognized for excellence in scholarship and active engagement of research

James (Jamie) Richard Dunn was born on April 4, 1954 in Queens, New York. He was the third of six sons in the Dunn family. Jamie went to college and received his B.S. degree from the State University College of New York at Oneonta in 1976 and joined our Physics Department in the Winter Quarter of 1977. Jamie was an exceptionally kind and generous graduate student whose deep enthusiasm for physics was only matched by his enthusiasm for life. One would, without exaggeration, see a budding Renaissance man in Jamie. He loved life and participated in every facet of it with great vigor. He actively fostered a spirit of good will in the department and was an advocate for graduate student involvement throughout his tenure. His boundless energy and inquisitive nature was infectious. Jamie was President of the Society of Physics Students and served on the Faculty Graduate Committee as graduate student representative.

Upon completion of his Ph.D. course requirements Jamie became Professor Alfred L. "Jimmy" Ritter's first graduate student. He completed a thorough background literature search on (e,2e) spectroscopy, designed several major pieces of apparatus for the spectrometer, and built a vacuum system. He assembled the instrumentation for measuring crucial parameters of the electron gun used in the spectrometer and developed the computer codes for initial testing and calibration of the electronic instruments that were used. Jamie was preparing the samples for his first experiments but did not live to write up the results.

On September 12, 1981 Jamie was in a fatal motorcycle accident here in Blacksburg, Virginia.

In recognition of his work, a Ph.D. was posthumously awarded and presented to his family at the June 9, 1984 Commencement Ceremony.

In memory of their son the Dunn family set up the James R. Dunn Award in Physics. It is meant to reinforce and acknowledge something of Jamie which we feel in some small way is carried on by the recipient of this award. Someone who embodies a love of physics and life in general, and indulges in both. He was of enthusiastic and kind nature, exhibited concern for his fellow human beings, and appreciated opportunities to gain knowledge whenever they presented themselves.

Professor Ray Fenton Tipsword (Sept. 9, 1931 - Dec. 4, 2009) grew up on a Southern Illinois farm and went to college at East Illinois State getting his B.S. in 1953, and went on to Southern Illinois to earn his M.S. in 1957. He majored in Physics. On active duty, after graduation, he served with the U.S. Army in the occupation of Korea. After his military service obligation was completed he briefly taught Physics at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Ray and his family then moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he began work in magnetic resonance under Professor Moulton at the University of Alabama. In 1963 he completed his Ph.D. at the University of Alabama and looked for a faculty position to teach Physics.

Ray accepted the offer of an Assistant Professorship here in the Physics Department at Virginia Tech in 1964 and remained on the faculty until 1991. He was a very dedicated and popular teacher and was honored with the Certificate for Excellence in Teaching for three consecutive years (1973-1976). In 1986 he was nominated (by students, alumni, and faculty within the College of Arts and Sciences) for and received the William E. Wine award. This award recognizes dedication and excellence in teaching.

In 1991, on the eve of Professor Tipsword's Retirement from the Department of Physics, the Tipsword family decided to set up a graduate scholarship in honor of his lifelong efforts and to recognize graduate students who excel and are promising future physicists.

Established in Spring 2006, the physics department is honored to have the William E. Hassinger Graduate Fellowship as one of its most recent endowments. A physics graduate in the Class of 1950, Bill Hassinger has been an enthusiastic supporter of our department. This fellowship was created to encourage and support students coming from surrounding communities who are persuing graduate degrees in physics.

Established in 2007, this award recognizes excellence and exemplary commitment in the performance of teaching duties. It is awarded to a graduate student who exhibits outstanding rapport with undergraduates and successfully fosters understanding of physics concepts. The department strives to encourage and acknowledge this valuable contribution to our education mission.

The Dr. James A. Jacobs Memorial Graduate Fellowship was established in 2007 as a memorial to Dr. James Albert Jacobs. Dr. Jacobs was a professor in the department from 1960-1978 and served as the department head from 1960-1973. Faculty and students who remember Dr. Jacobs and his numerous accomplishments established the award in his honor. It recognizes a graduate student, in good standing, who demonstrates academic excellence.

This award was established in 2008 by Dr. Klaus Wiemer and his wife, Stella Wiemer. Dr. Wiemer is a proud alumnus of the College of Science, having received his Ph.D. in physics in 1969. The couple created this award in honor of Associate Professor Emeritus of Physics, Dr. Clayton Drews Williams, who was Dr. Wiemer's mentor. Recipients shall be, at the time of receipt of the fellowship funds, graduate students within the Department of Physics, demonstrating academic excellence and good progress towards a Ph.D. in theoretical physics.

Dr. Williams grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and received a bachelor's degree in physics at Rice University in 1957 and a Ph.D. in physics at Washington University in St. Louis in 1961 (under the guidance of Prof. Eugene Feenberg, for a dissertation on the ground-state energy of liquid helium). He was then employed full-time at Virginia Tech in teaching, research (in condensed matter theory), and department administration from 1961 to 1996, and was associate head of the Department of Physics for 18 years (1978-80, 1982-98). He was major advisor for nine successful Ph.D. students.

Established by Prof. Beate Schmittmann in 2012, the Wan-Zia Scholarship is endowed through generous donations from the friends and colleagues of Prof. R. K. P. Zia. Intended as a continuation of the C. H. Wan Scholarship, it is awarded to and graduate and/or undergraduate students who are recognized for excellence in scholarship and active engagement of research

Following her receipt of a prize for her work in physics, Dr. Lubna Razia Ijaz donated the prize toward the establishment of a scholarship. She and her late husband, Professor Mujaddid Ahmed Ijaz of the Virginia Tech Physics Department, were associated with the university for a number of years and were well known in southwest Virginia. The Lubna Razia Ijaz Scholarship was first awarded in 1996 and goes to a student who has shown great commitment to the science of physics and has rendered significant service to the department and the cause of physics education.