In Brief

This fall, Robert C. Kennicutt Jr, professor and astronomer at the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona in Tucson, will become Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University. Kennicutt has served as the editor-in-chief of the Astrophysical Journal for six years. He plans to step down at the end of 2006 after completing his current term.

Edward E. Doomes has been appointed assistant professor in the department of physics at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Royal Astronomical Society in the UK has announced the winners of its two highest honors. The Gold Medal for Astronomy is going to Eleanor Margaret Burbidge and Geoffrey Burbidge for “their joint contributions to astronomical research and their impressive record of service to the community.” Margaret Burbidge, who served as president of the American Astronomical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Geoffrey Burbidge, who spent 30 years as editor-in-chief of the Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics , are both emeritus professors of physics at the University of California, San Diego. The Gold Medal for Geophysics is being awarded to Carole Jordan, professor of theoretical physics at Oxford University, for “her pioneering contributions to solar and stellar studies, her role in opening up the new field of ultraviolet astronomy …, and her wide-ranging contributions to the teaching and promotion of physics and astronomy in the UK.”

Richard L. Liboff, professor emeritus of electrical engineering, applied physics, and applied mathematics at Cornell University, is moving to the University of Central Florida, where he will be a Distinguished Professor of Physics.