Michael Wiescher Appointed to Board on Physics and Astronomy

Michael Wiescher, the Freimann Professor of Physics, has been appointed to the National Academies Board on Physics and Astronomy for a three year term beginning July 2008. The Board on Physics and Astronomy seeks to inform the government and the public regarding significant scientific opportunities and issues in physics and astronomy and build bridges between evolving sub-disciplines of physics and astronomy and other areas of science.

As a member of the board, Wiescher will collaborate with other leading researchers to identify trends in research and new developments at the scientific forefronts. He will strengthen connections to technology and foster interactions with other fields and academic disciplines.

Wiescher is a world-leading scientist in experimental nuclear astrophysics who has made numerous contributions to the determination of key nuclear reaction rates for the understanding of stellar evolution and the synthesis of the elements in the Universe. He is particularly well known for the use of novel techniques involving low energy ion beams in measuring nuclear reactions determining the lifetime and evolution of stars.

Wiescher is the director of the Nuclear Science Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame. He also serves as director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA), an institute in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame, Michigan State University, and the University of Chicago which addresses a broad range of experimental, theoretical, and observational questions in nuclear astrophysics. JINA is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Additionally, Wiescher has been reappointed to the Advisory Board of the National Research Council of Canada for a three year term beginning in September 2008. The NRCC advances research and innovation through high-value information and publishing services in science, technology and medicine and provides Canada's research and innovation community with tools and services for accelerated discovery, innovation and commercialization.

Contact: Michael Wiescher, Freimann Professor of Nuclear Physics, 574-631-6788, mwiesche@nd.edu