An anonymous donor has made a major multi-million dollar gift to the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University. These new funds will undoubtedly make a major impact on our programs. Among other things, it will be used for:

  • Creation of the Peter Lindenfeld Chair in Experimental Condensed-Matter Physics as of September 1, 2001, by a cash gift and a 5-year pledge.
  • $500K cash gift for the SALT telescope project as a matching fund.
  • Enhancement of the Mary Wheeler Wigner Scholarship endowed fund so that about $5,000 can be provided to the best rising senior physics major each year.
  • Enhancement of the Richard J.Plano Teaching Assistant Prize endowed fund to allow for the offering of two new $1,000 prizes each year.
  • Creation of the Richard J. Plano Dissertation Prize providing $1,000 each year for the best Ph.D. dissertation.
  • Creation of the Henry C. Torrey Graduate Fellowship in Physics and Astronomy which will provide an additional $8,000 for two years to the recipient of a Graduate School Henry C. Torrey Graduate Fellowship as an incoming student.
  • Creation of six new undergraduate full-tuition scholarships for outstanding physics majors, to be named the Herman Y. Carr, Robert L. Sells, and Noemie Benczer Koller Scholarships.
  • Creation of two Richard J. Plano Summer Research Scholarships of $4,500 each to be awarded annually for research to be carried out during the summer after the junior year.
  • Creation of an annual $40,000 Undergraduate Instructional Equipment Fund to be used for the purchase and renewal of state-of-the-art equipment for our undergraduate teaching laboratories in physics and astronomy.