Dr. Shirley Chan Scholarship in Physics

Dr. Chan graduated with her B.S. in Physics, 1970, from Western Illinois University, then M.S. in physics, 1971, and Ph.D. in biophysics, 1977, both from the University of Illinois. She was a post­doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, Germany 1977-78. In 1979, she was recruited to be a R&D scientist at Exxon Research Co., British Oxygen Co., and then a product manager at Photon Technology International, gaining her experiences in industry. She returned to academic environments in 1988 for nuclei acid and microfluidic research projects at Rutgers University and then Princeton University, including one year at the Los Alamos National Lab. She served as the secretary-treasurer of Division of Biophysical Physics 2004-08 at the American Physical Society, and was elected as an APS Fellow. She was a visiting scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008-09. She retired in 2009.
Over the years of scientific research, se has gained a wide range of experiences in different kinds of absorption and emission spectroscopies plus microscopy (UV, visible, IR, Raman, fluorescence and phosphorescence). The materials involved range from proteins, mammalian cells, catalysts for petroleum processes, oxygen monitoring techniques for patients, to nucleic acids. She has co­authored over 60 scientific publications, plus co-edited a text book, “The Physics of Proteins” authored by H. Frauenfelder.

CRITERIA & ELIGIBILITY:
• Undergraduate student majoring in Physics entering their senior year with a minimum 3.0 GPA
• Deemed the best, or most promising, upcoming senior by the faculty scholarship committee