The research career of Michael S. Witherell, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been "charmed" of late: The 40-year-old investigator was recently named the winner of the American Physical Society's 1990 W.K.H. Panofsky Prise for his studies of the charmed quark, a subatomic particle that has higher energy than that of ordinary quarks.
The prize is named for Wolfgang Panofsky, the German-born professor emeritus of physics at Stanford University and former director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory. The annual prize, originated in 1988, is chosen by a five-member selection committee composed of APS members. Accompanied by a $5,000 award, the prize recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of experimental elementary particle physics. Witherell received the honor last month at APS' meeting in Washington, D.C.
Witherell was cited by the society for his work in the observation and measurement of an unprecedented number of charmed ...
