CONWAY, Ark. (March 5, 2013) - The Hendrix College Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapter was recognized as an "Outstanding SPS Chapter" for 2011-12.
Less than 10 percent of the SPS chapters nationwide, an average of about one per state, receive this honor, according to the letter of citation from Toni Sauncy, director of the national offices of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.
"As chapter advisor, I want to recognize last year's officers Hannah McWilliams, Erik Urban, Jordan Russell, Tyler Webb, and Charlie Peterson and the past officers who worked so faithfully to strengthen our chapter to where we could compete on this level," said Hendrix physics professor Dr. Todd Tinsley, adding his thanks to the Hendrix Student Senate for its funding support of many SPS programs. "And we especially thank the members of SPS, including our faculty, whose creativity and enthusiasm have earned us this award."
"I've been SPS advisor since I arrived on the Hendrix campus five and a half years ago and have always hoped we could build our chapter into one worthy of this recognition," said Tinsley. "While Dr. Sauncy's letter identifies our involvement on campus and in professional meetings, this means a great deal to our students and physics faculty members for what says about our community and esprit de corps within the department."
"As the numbers of physicists started to increase over the last five years, the department became increasingly dependent upon our chapter to disseminate information and organize students," Tinsley wrote in the chapter's annual report. "When the school needs tutors, a faculty member has a research position open, REU announcements arrive, or volunteers are needed to communicate the power that is physics, the department calls on SPS to share that information through word-of-mouth and its Facebook page.
"The chapter has become more adept at those tasks in recent years and, naturally, positioned itself to be the nexus of the department outside of the classroom. There is no finer example of this than what our chapter accomplished in 2011-2012. By capitalizing on the strength of our student body, SPS not only effectively generated excitement about physics but maintained strength in communication and organization to keep events occurring on campus throughout the year."
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the fifth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the country's "Up and Coming" liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2012 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country's best 377 colleges, the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, Forbes magazine's annual list of America's Top 650 Colleges, and the 2013 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.