Alan Chodos
Associate Executive Officer
American Physical Society

Lead Speaker: 2005 World Year of Physics Session & Reception

Abstract
Kick-off celebration for the 2005 World Year of Physics! Presentations from association leaders on 2005 plans across the United States and around the globe; SPS chapter demonstrations; posters.

Biographical Sketch
Alan Chodos is a theoretical particle physicist. Born in Canada, he was an undergraduate at McGill University in Montreal. In addition to studying physics and math, he spent a good deal of time working on the campus newspaper, experience that would later serve him in good stead (see below). He then emigrated to the United States, and, despite the turmoil of the sixties, during which he was only arrested once, he received his PhD from Cornell in 1970. After postdoctoral stints at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, he joined the physics department at Yale in 1976. In 2000 he left Yale to take the position of Associate Executive Officer of the American Physical Society.

While at MIT, Chodos was a co-author of the paper that introduced the MIT Bag Model of hadrons. Later, he was an early contributor to the renaissance of higher-dimensional field theories, that have become increasingly popular with the advent of superstrings. He also attained a certain notoriety for daring to believe that the neutrino might be a tachyon, i.e. travel faster than light. He is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, and the co-editor of three books, including "Modern Kaluza-Klein Theories". At APS, Chodos has resuscitated his latent journalistic tendencies as editor of APS News. He also oversees the APS prize and award portfolio, and is taking a lead role in APS participation in the World Year of Physics.