Overview
The purpose of the PGS is to improve the lives of physics graduate students by facilitating communication between them and the physics faculty at Cornell. Our goals include disseminating important information to graduate students and acting as a formal voice for graduate students in the workings of the department. Additionally, the PGS fosters community among physics graduate students by organizing social events and discussion forums.
The PGS is an official organization within Cornell University. Our constitution is available online. If you're interested in shaping the future of the PGS, please email a current PGS member and join our Executive Board!
Executive Board
Below are the current PGS Executive Board members, who can be reached by emailing "pgs_exec-L" using the "cornell.edu" extension (this email is not read by any faculty members):
- Lauren Aycock (President)
- Zach Lamberty (Vice President – Activities)
- Curran Muhlberger (Vice President – Communications)
- Gala Nicolas Kaufman (Treasurer)
Faculty Sponsor
The PGS faculty contact is the Physics DGS, Ritchie Patterson (ritchie - at - mail.lepp.cornell.edu), who would be happy to hear your comments, questions, or complaints about the department.
GPSA Representative
The physics department also has graduate student representatives to the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly:
- Jolyon Bloomfield
- Chen Li
History of the PGS
The PGS was revitalized in the fall of 2003, when it was called the Physics Graduate Student and Faculty Committee (PGSFC). In a survey of grad students by the new leaders, a number of students complained about the complicated PGSFC acronym, so when the organization was registered with the SAO as an official campus organization for the first time in the spring of 2004, it was also renamed as the PGS.
History of PGS Officers
| Year | President | Vice President(s) | Treasurer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Lauren Aycock | Zach Lamberty, Curran Muhlberger | Gala Nicolas Kaufman |
| 2008 | Jolyon Bloomfield | Robin Baur, Eliot Kapit | Y-J Chen |
| 2007 | Mohammad Hamidian | Bryan Daniels, Darren Puigh | Tristan Rocheleau |
| 2006 | Robin Smith | David Bernat, Sophie Rittner | Attila Bergou |
| 2005 | Joern Kupferschmidt | Elizabeth Strychalski, Xin Shi | Arend van der Zande |
| 2004 | Lisa Larrimore | Scott Verbridge | Jeremy Urban |