Panel on Public Affairs

The Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) is responsible for making recommendations to the President, the Board, and the Council on public affairs activities of the Society that have been designated to it by the Board and/or Council. POPA may initiate new public affairs activities for the Society and may recommend new programs to the Council. POPA draws from the expertise of its membership to draft reports and statements on behalf of APS. These draft reports and statements are subject to Council approval prior to release.

The membership of POPA includes a Chair, Chair-Elect, Vice Chair, the Past Chair, the Vice President, the immediate APS Past President, the Congressional Fellow(s) in the second year following the term of service, thirteen (13) members elected by Council to staggered three (3) year terms, and one (1) member from each of the Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics (FIAP), the Forum on Early Career Scientists (FECS), the Forum on Graduate Student Affairs (FGSA), and the Forum on Physics and Society (FPS) to serve staggered three (3) year terms. The Vice Chair is elected by Council, and serves a four (4) year term in the Chair line.

The POPA Steering Committee consists of the Chair, the Chair-Elect, the Vice Chair, the Past Chair, the Vice President, the Past President, and at least two (2) additional members selected from among and by the members of POPA.

POPA is a Council Committee.

View minutes from past POPA meetings

  • Brian DeMarco, Chair
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Sarah Demers, Chair-Elect
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Yale University
  • Norbert Holtkamp, Vice Chair
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Stanford University
  • Don Lamb, Past Chair
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 1, 2025)
    University of Chicago
  • Gabriela Gonzalez, Vice President
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Louisiana State University
  • Marty Baylor
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Carleton College
  • Patricia Rankin
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Arizona State University
  • Raymond Jeanloz
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    University of California, Berkeley
  • Lisbeth Gronlund
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Joseph Berry
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Scott Franklin
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Divine Kumah
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Duke University
  • Michelle Larson
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Adler Planetarium Chicago
  • Idalia Ramos
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    University of Puerto Rico at Humacao
  • Robert Mayo
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Fredrik Fatemi
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    US Army Research Lab Adelphi
  • Kathy-Anne Soderberg
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    United States Air Force Research Laboratory
  • Ian Coddington
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • John Palmore, Member, FECS Representative
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    University of Washington
  • Savannah Thais, Member, FPS Representative
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2027)
    Columbia University
  • Young-Kee Kim, Chair, Physics Policy Committee
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    University of Chicago
  • James Adams, Representative, Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics
    (Jan 1, 2021 – Dec 31, 2026)
    National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • Thomas Plumb-Reyes, Congressional Fellow
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Harvard University
  • John Doyle, Advisor
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Harvard University
  • John Marston, Advisor
    (Jan 1, 2025 – Jan 31, 2026)
    Brown University
  • Jorge Nicolas Hernandez Charpak, Staff Liaison
    American Physical Society (APS)
  • Yewande Lewis, Staff Administrator
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2025)
    American Physical Society (APS)

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