WAYS OF GIVING TO THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

THE MARILYN STEVENS SCHOLARSHIP This endowed fund was established early in 2002 as a tribute to honor the Administrative Manager of Physics from 1988-2001. Marilyn was a colleague, mentor, and a friend to all of us who had the pleasure of knowing her. Her passing in December 2001 deeply saddened us. We all miss her compassion and laughter.  Awardees (one undergraduate, and one graduate student each year) have traits common with Marilyn’s: commitment to the betterment of the department, an upbeat spirit, leadership skills, and interests in the application of Physics. Please indicate PY001FFER on your gift to this endowment. The 06-07 winners of the Marilyn Stevens Scholarship Award are (from left to right) undergraduate student Rion Parsons, and graduate student Daniel Simon. Both received a monetary award to aid in their pursuit of higher education. Past recipients of the Marilyn Stevens Award: 2005-2006:  Ashley Jones and Christian Flacco 2004-2005:  John Wray and Matt Johnson 2003-2004:  John Bavier and Michael Wilson 2001-2002:  Brian Keeney and Brandon Allgood

Many of you receive fund-raising inquiries from the UCSC Development Office each year, providing you the opportunity to contribute to the Physics Department.

We welcome you to specify that your gift be directed to a particular effort, or to designate to our general fund so that we may use your gift to best meet our overall needs.

Following is a list of the Department’s priorities. Please make your check payable to the UCSC Foundation or follow the links to give online:

The most recent award given from this fund was for $500 in December of 2003 to Regents Scholar Stephane Herbert-Fort to offset costs to travel to the Keck Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii to observe Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems and collect data for his thesis B.S. in Astrophysics. Please indicate PY003F on your gift to this fund.

THE COLLOQUIUM/SEMINAR FUND

The Department sponsors lectures by distinguished faculty and researchers each week during regular academic quarters. You are always welcome to join us! To keep current with developments in the various areas of interest in our department, our goal is to have 10 colloquia in high energy physics (Thursdays at 4PM) and 10 seminars in condensed matter physics (Fridays at 2PM) each quarter. See current list of colloquia and seminars.

Gifts to this fund will allow us to continue these fine lecture series by bringing in the very best of researchers from all over the world. Even local speakers are reimbursed for mileage and lodging. The Colloquia and Seminar series are very popular with our faculty and graduate students. Please indicate Lecture Series on your gift to this fund.

PHYSICS GENERAL FUND

This fund is used for other needs not covered by the university and offers us the most flexibility. It includes a wide range of activities such as outreach events to prospective physics undergraduate and graduate students, our annual graduation ceremony, alumni events, undergraduate, graduate and faculty recruitment activities, and a tea time prior to each colloquium and seminar to create an opportunity for interdisciplinary conversation as these events are advertised widely in the Physical and Biological Sciences. Other examples include course-related field trips, undergraduate and graduate research activities.

In 2006-07, we were pleased to use the general fund to purchase computers and other equipment for our new Undergraduate Computing Lounge. Housed in Thimann Labs, this is a place for all Physics majors to gather, relax, and have access to the Physics intranet as well as limited software licenses. Please indicate PY001F on your gift to this fund. 

Thank you for your support!

We will send acknowledgements to all gifts sent directly to the department or made through the campus Development Offices. We encourage you to contact us at anytime if you want to learn more about how your gift is being used to support the department.

For more information you may call Department Manager Sarah Schuster at 831-459-4121, or e-mail schuster@ucsc.edu, or contact Jeffrey Kongslie in the Physical and Biological Sciences Development Office at 831-459-4240, or email kongslie@ucsc.edu.