Oct 02, 2006 - Claremont, Calif. -

Stephanie Moyerman '06 was named one of the recipients of this year's American Physical Society's LeRoy Apker Undergraduate Physics Achievement Award.

The award recognizes outstanding achievements in physics by undergraduates who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific achievement. It is given each year to a student from one Ph.D.-granting institution and one non-Ph.D.-granting institution.

Moyerman is the third Harvey Mudd College student to receive the award and the fifth to be named a finalist since it was begun in 1978. She joins Gwendolyn Rae Bell Porter '98 and Nathaniel Stern '03 among the HMC winners of the award. The award consists of $5,000, an allowance for travel to the meeting of the APS at which the award is presented and a certificate citing the work and the school of the recipient.

Moyerman is currently abroad on a Watson Foundation Fellowship, studying the cultural differences in the practice and teaching of judo throughout the world. While a student, she was active on the Claremont Colleges women's rugby team. She also earned a National Institute of Standards and Technology fellowship that resulted in her co-authoring the paper, "Ferromagnetic Relaxation in Spin Valves with Pico-Scale Antiferromagnetic Layers," which was published in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

"Steph is truly remarkable," said HMC Professor of Physics James C. Eckert, her faculty adviser. "Her accomplishments amaze me, whether they are in the research lab, in athletics or in her day-to-day life. Perhaps her most endearing quality is the fact that, despite all of the awards and honors she has collected, Stephanie is the same friendly, funny, caring person that I caught freezing gummy bears in liquid nitrogen during sophomore physics lab. I am very lucky and proud to have worked with Steph and I know that she will continue to excel in whatever she chooses to do."

Because Moyerman's Watson Fellowship forbids her to return to the U.S. for one year, she was required to interview for the Apker Award via video conference in London. Visit the Department of Physics news page for photos and a description of the process.