Anthony F. Starace
Department Chair: August 1984 – August 1995
Hallmarks of his tenure as Chair:
•
•
•
Highly organized, attention to detail
Creative problem solver
Earned the respect of College and University
Administrators
But the Department was dealing with an existing
problem when he became Chair
1984 – 29 Faculty
Exper.
4
5
0
3
1
CMMP:
AMOP:
HEP:
ASTR:
Archaeometry:
Arms Control:
Nuclear:
Physics Education:
Relativity:
Track Physics:
Theory
3
2
5
1
1
1
1/2
1/2
1
1/2
1/2
14 Experimentalists
15 Theorists
Only 18/29 had funding
Spread too thin in areas
No new hires since 1976
Starace Plan to Improve Department
Build strength in limited number of areas:
•
CMMP
•
AMOP
•
Astronomy
•
HEP
•
Physics Education
As retirements/resignations occur
Hire in the targeted areas only
•
Goal is national/international impact in each
research area
Replace some theorists with experimentalists
•
Most grad students want to do exp. physics
•
Funding levels are higher for experimentalists.
After much discussion, faculty approved the plan
1995 – 26 Faculty
Exper. Theory
CMMP:
5
3
AMOP:
4
2
HEP:
1
4
ASTR:
3
1
Physics Education: 1/2
1/2
Relativity:
1
Arms Control:
1
13.5 Experimentalists
12.5 Theorists
Only 16/26 had funding
6 new hires since 1987
2007 – 25 Faculty
CMMP:
AMOP:
HEP:
ASTR:
Exper.
10
4
4
2
Theory
2
3
0
0
20 Experimentalists
5 Theorists
23/25 have funding
23 new hires since 1987
2014 – 27 Faculty
CMMP:
AMOP:
HEP:
Exper. Theory
10
3
6
3
5
0
21 Experimentalists
6 Theorists
27/27 have funding
28 new hires since 1987
All groups are nationally/internationally competitive
All groups have many individual faculty grants
All groups have large scale collaborative grants
It took three decades, but the (modified)
Starace plan is now complete, and the
Department is much stronger for it
Faculty will decide where the Department goes
from here, subject to input and constraints from
A&S College and University administrators, and
with input from such groups as NCMN,
Engineering College, ..……
In summary, Anthony Starace provided the
plan and the initial leadership to move the
Department in a direction that permitted the
development of our research groups into
leaders in their fields.
The same general principles will guide the
Department in the future.
I thank Tony for a job well done.