LLNL's Cherry Murray Elected as American Physical Society VP

Cherry Murray, deputy director for Science and Technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif., has been elected vice president of the American Physical Society (APS) for 2007. The assignment begins Jan. 1 and lasts for four years. Following a year as vice president, she will serve a year as president-elect, then as president and finally as immediate past president. Founded in 1899 at Columbia University, APS's mission is to "advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics." The society has more than 40,000 members and publishes Physical Review and other publications. It also monitors the human rights of scientists worldwide and recognizes professional accomplishment with prizes, awards and the election of APS Fellows. As APS vice president, Murray will serve on the Panel of Public Affairs and chair the Fellowship Committee, including the Congressional Fellow Selection Committee. Murray will keep her position at LLNL, where she has worked since 2004. Prior to joining LLNL she was senior vice president for physical sciences and wireless research at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies. Murray is nationally recognized for her work in surface physics, light scattering and complex fluids. She is a member of the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2002, Discover Magazine named her one of the "50 Most Important Women in Science." Murray received her bachelor's degree and doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She serves on the governing boards of the National Research Council and Argonne National Laboratory, and the executive board and council of the National Academy of Science. She is also a fellow of APS and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1989, she won the APS Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award and in 2005 she was awarded the society's George Pake Prize. She is the author of two patents and more than 75 publications.