Jefferson Lab Scientist Selected to Receive Francis Slack Award

December 01, 2017

Hari Areti

Old Dominion University professor Hari Areti was recently selected to receive the Francis G. Slack Award, established by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society, to honor excellence in service to Physics in the Southeastern U.S.

Areti, a senior scientist at Jefferson Lab and professor at Old Dominion's Center for Accelerator Sciences, was recognized not only for the advancement of accelerator science and physics in the region, but for his efforts to engage and mentor students in the field.

The award citation recognizes Areti's many accomplishments and reads, "He is a dedicated promoter of undergraduate and graduate education, continues to work towards the goal of increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in physics, and advancing physics opportunities in the Southeast."

Since 2008, Areti has served as the head of Jefferson Lab's Student Affairs office. In that capacity, he works with undergraduate and graduate students at the lab and also administers the accelerator division's graduate student program.

Areti is passionate about undergraduate student research and has regularly organized summer programs to encourage student interest in physics. He has also been active in working to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in accelerator science and to establish a faculty bridge position between Jefferson Lab and Morehouse College, an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities).

Areti was also instrumental in establishing the Center for Accelerator Science at Old Dominion, which now has 10 faculty members teaching accelerator science and technology.

The Francis Slack Award is named for Francis G. Slack, a distinguished Vanderbilt University scientist who was a charter member of the Southeastern Section and who contributed significantly to its development. The award recognizes those who have worked to improve, expand or enhance physics programs in the region.

The award was presented during the 84th annual meeting of the APS, Southeastern Section, Nov. 16-18 at the Georgia College in Milledgeville, Ga.

Jefferson Lab is a world-leading nuclear physics research facility devoted to the study of quarks and gluons - the building blocks of matter inside the atom's nucleus that make up 99 percent of the mass of our visible universe. Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a joint venture of the Southest Universities Research Association, Inc. and PAE Applied Technologies, manages and operates Jefferson Lab, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.