The William H. Nelson Physics & Astronomy Research Endowment was set up to honor the memory of Dr. William H. Nelson, Ph.D. Dr. Nelson worked at Georgia State University from 1974 until his sudden death in 2010.
Dr. Nelson began as an assistant professor in 1971, became tenured in 1981, a full professor in 1988, and served as the acting chair of the Physics & Astronomy Department from 1992-1994. He became full chair in 1994. In 2004, Dr. Nelson became Associate Dean of Research for the College of Arts & Sciences. In 2009, he served as interim chair of the Math Department.
The following is a list of past speakers invited for the William H. Nelson Speakers Series.
- Paul Charbonneau (Université de Montréal), April 4, 2023: “Avalanches, Earthquakes and Solar Flares“
- Helen Caines (Yale University), November 15, 2022: “Creating Little Big Bangs in the Lab“
- Harry Atwater (California Institute of Technology), October 8, 2019: “New Horizons and Grand Challenges for Nanophotonics“
- Gabriela Gonzalez (Louisiana State University), September 24, 2018: “Einstein, Gravitational Waves, Black Holes and Other Matters“
- Edward Kolb (University of Chicago), April 19, 2017: “Mysteries of the Dark Universe“
- Jeffery Hall (Lowell Observatory), April 19, 2016: “Cycles of the Sun: Our Variable Star and its Effects on Earth“
- Kumar Wickramasinghe (UC Irvine), April 12, 2015: “From Molecules to Atoms – Development of Scanning Probes for Visualizing the Nanoworld”
- Atlanta Functional Neuroimaging Workshop, hosted by Dr. Mukesh Dhamala, April 25, 2014
- Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather (NASA/GSFC), Oct 23, 2012: “History of the Universe from the Beginning to End”
- Dr. Alan Marscher (Boston Univ.), April 10, 2012: “Black Holes, Jets, and Gamma Rays in Active Galactic Nuclei”
- Dr. William Bernhard (University of Rochester), April 12, 2011: “Damage Due to Ionizing Radiation: from DNA to Protein and Back Again”