2007 Outstanding Alumni
The 2007 Physics Outstanding Alumni visited Purdue University on Friday, 4 October. Recipients Mario Paniccia, William Morse, J. Thomas Gruenwald, and Celeste Bottorff were honored for their contributions and leadership within their professions. During their visit the honorees met with the College of Science Dean, Jeffrey Vitter, addressed the faculty, and toured the campus and the Physics department.
Dr. Mario Paniccia (MS 1990, PhD 1994) is an Intel Fellow and director of the Photonics Technology Lab. Joining Intel in 1995, Paniccia was a lead researcher for the development of a novel optical testing technology for probing transistor timing in microprocessors that is today’s industry standard. Scientific American named Paniccia one of 2004’s top 50 researchers for his work in the area of silicon photonics. Dr. Paniccia’s advisor at Purdue University was Professor Ron Reifenberger.
Presentation given October 5th, 2007 (pdf)
Dr. William Morse (MS 1971, PhD 1975) was recently named an American Physical Society Fellow for his accomplishments in the field and his leadership role Brookhaven National Laboratory, especially for his role as resident spokesman for the BNL muon anomalous magnetic moment experiment from 1991 to 2004. The experiment’s findings challenged the Standard Model of particle physics that describes the fundamental structure of matter. Professor Virgil Barnes acted as Dr. Morse’s graduate advisor.
Dr. J. Thomas (Tom) Gruenwald (MS 1972, PhD 1976) is executive vice-president of corporate strategy and chief technology officer at Tellabs where he is responsible for Tellabs’ technology strategy, business development and network evolution. Prior to his position at Tellabs, Dr. Gruenwald held a number of positions at Bell Laboratories and was a professor of physics at the University of Portland. His graduate advisor was Professor Ephraim Fishbach.
Celeste Bottorff (BS 1975) currently works for the Coca Cola Company where she is a Marketing Group Director in the Food Service and Hospitality Division. Prior to this position, Ms. Bottorff worked as a marketing consultant for McKinsey & Co., and as an engineer for General Electric and American Air Filter. She also holds an MBA from the University of Virginia.
Physics Department Head, Nick Giordano, presented the Physics Outstanding Alumni with engrave awards at a formal reception and presentation ceremony for the four honorees.
From left: Celeste Bottorff, Dr. William Morse,
Dr. Mario Paniccia, Dr. J. Thomas (Tom) Gruenwald
