Jorge Piekarewicz appointed to elite U.S. nuclear panel

In the first half of 2012, physics Professor Jorge Piekarewicz received recognition from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the American Physical Society (APS).

Piekarewicz has been invited to serve a three-year term on the joint DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC), and separately, he has been named an “outstanding referee” by the APS.

Jorge Piekarewicz

NSAC, the most influential committee concerned with basic nuclear science in the United States, provides advice and guidance to the DOE and NSF on both short-term and long-term national scientific priorities. The combined budget for DOE and NSF nuclear science is more than $500 million per year, so it is an honor to be invited to this advisory body.

Piekarewicz is just the third person from FSU to be appointed to this panel since its inception in 1977. The others were Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Donald Robson (serving from 1978 to 1982), and Raymond K. Sheline Professor of Physics Mark Riley (serving from 1999 to 2002). Robson is a past chair of the physics department, and Riley is the current chair.

“Jorge being named to NSAC is recognition of his wide ranging knowledge of nuclear physics and the important influence he has had on the field, especially with respect to neutron stars and the role that nuclear matter plays in their formation,” says Kirby Kemper, vice president for Research and himself a physicist. “The field also knows him as an excellent speaker in explaining many aspects of nuclear matter to the community, and we here at FSU know him as an excellent teacher.”

In being named an “outstanding referee” by the APS, Piekarewicz was one of 149 members selected for 2012. “The Outstanding Referee Program expresses appreciation for the essential work that anonymous peer reviewers do for our journals,” says Gene Sprouse of the APS. “Each year a small percentage of our 60,000 active referees are selected and honored with the outstanding referee designation. Selections are made based on the number, quality, and timeliness of referee reports as collected in a database over the last 25 years.” Piekarewicz was named an APS fellow in 2005.