Notables

Joseph A. Burns, Cornell professor of astronomy and the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering, has been named chair of the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) division on dynamical astronomy for 2000-2001. He was installed at the division's annual meeting, Yosemite Valley, Calif., April 9-12. The division is the professional organization for celestial mechanicians, planetary dynamicists and galactic modelers. Burns previously chaired the AAS division for planetary sciences.

Watt W. Webb, professor of applied physics and the S.B. Eckert Professor in Engineering, has been awarded the International Jablonski Award. A memorial plaque and a $2,500 cash prize were presented to him Feb. 12 at the annual meeting of the Biophysical Society in New Orleans. The International Jablonski Award, named for the late Aleksander Jablonski, founder of physical researches at Nicholas Copernicus University in Torun, Poland, recognizes the highest achievements in the principles and applications of fluorescence spectroscopy. The award is sponsored by the biological fluorescence subgroup of the Biophysical Society and funded by Spectronic Instruments Inc. The award was presented to Webb for his outstanding accomplishments in fluorescence spectroscopy. His research concerns multiphoton molecular excitation as measured by fluorescence spectroscopy. Webb is director of the Developmental Resource for Biophysical Imaging Opto-Electronics at Cornell. His laboratory in the School of Applied and Engineering Physics has made much-heralded advances in measurements of the dynamics of chemical processes in living cells and tissues.