Dirac Medalists honoured

Curtis Callan, Dirac Medalist 2004, has been appointed as vice president of the American Physical Society (APS). Callan will be President-elect in 2009 and will serve as APS President in 2010. Professor Callan is J.S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics at Princeton University and former chair of its Physics Department.
Peter Zoller, Dirac Medalist 2006, has shared the inaugural edition of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards with Ignacio Cirac "for their fundamental work on quantum information science". The citation continues, "Both men have formulated new theoretical insights and inspired experiments from quantum simulation to engineering in systems ranging from atoms and ions to condensed matter". The newly established awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research at the international level, and can be considered second only to the Nobel Prize in their monetary amount, an annual 3.2 million euro, and the breadth of the scientific and artistic areas covered.