September 13, 2021
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe
The American Physical Society (APS) has elected Young-Kee Kim, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) Principal Investigator and Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor in Physics at The University of Chicago, as its next Vice President, it was announced by the APS Nominating Committee.
The APS was founded in 1899, and is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. Currently, there are more than 55,000 members in the US and around the world. The APS also operates the Physical Review journals.
Since 1980, the APS President has been elected Vice-President, automatically becoming President-Elect and then President in successive years.
"I am humbled by this moment and deeply grateful to my colleagues for their confidence and the opportunity to serve this amazing society,” said Kim. "Global exchanges in science is critical right now. Kavli IPMU’s perspectives will be very valuable and I very much look forward to working with Kavli IPMU colleagues,” she added.
The mission of APS is to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community. “Never have these goals been more important than the present,” said Kim. “Issues such as public disregard of scientific expertise have been amplified during the pandemic. Open international scientific collaboration has become challenging. Building trust with the public at large is critical,” she added. “The sad events of the last two years have awoken many of us to the racial injustices—the physics community is not immune to these events. Despite some progress, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and attracting diverse talents to physics are enormous challenges. Rapid changes in government policies during the pandemic further illustrate the importance of forward-looking but calm and sober voices from APS leadership in order to promote effective communication with government leaders. I remain confident that we as a Society can deal successfully with our challenges," said Kim.
Kim will begin her new position on January 1, 2022.
Related Links
APS General Election 2021