10 NSF winners! Ten ’04 HMC students have won prestigious National Science Foundation fellowships, of which 5 are physics majors or double majors. Pictured are Joe Checkelsky (physics), Andrew Grier (honorable mention in physics), David Gaebler (math-physics), Steve Kolthammer (physics), Liz Main (physics), and Laura Fisher (honorable mention in physics). Not pictured: Zoe Boekelheide (honorable mention in physics) and Kit Rodolfa (chemistry-physics). Congratulations!

External review The Physics Department underwent a very successful external review in February, 2004. The report of the team of 3 physicists from leading graduate and undergraduate institutions begins:

“The physics program at Harvey Mudd College is truly excellent and among the very best at undergraduate institutions across the country. The curriculum has been carefully conceived and is effective in providing an outstanding education to students, the faculty are skilled teachers who are extremely accessible and wonderfully supportive to students, the research experiences offered to students are top-notch, the department is an important contributor to the excellence of the institution, and the people in the department enjoy an esprit de corps that allows them to work together quite effectively. In short, the department enjoys the admiration of the administration, the faculty in other departments, the students, and now this review team.

“In reviewing one of the best if not the best physics program at an undergraduate institution, there are no major problems for us to address. ...”