Spiegelman Named APAM Chair
Marc Spiegelman, the Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, has been named Chair of the APAM Department, effective July 1, 2021.
Spiegelman develops theoretical and computational tools to understand the dynamics and observable consequences of fluid flow in strongly deformable porous media. These general problems have critical applications in Earth Science including the flow of magma and fluids in the deep earth, the role of fluids in earthquake physics, reactive cracking for geological carbon sequestration and the effects of subglacial hydrology on the stability of ice-sheets.
All of these problems require a consistent coupling of fluid and solid dynamics together with thermodynamics. Driven by these applications, his computational research focuses on methods and software for more flexible exploration and solution of these and other multi-physics problems. In particular, his group, has been developing several open-source software packages that leverage advanced computational libraries into flexible model building systems for both mechanics and thermodynamics with the goal of providing more flexible, transparent and reproducible computational research.
Spiegelman received a B.A. in Geology from Harvard University in 1985 and a PhD in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Cambridge in 1989. He holds a joint appointment between the APAM and the Department and the Earth and Environmental Sciences (DEES). He is also a member of the senior staff at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and has multiple collaborations to integrate theoretical models with Lamont’s strong observational and experimental programs in petrology, geochemistry, and mantle and cryosphere dynamics. He received the DEES Outstanding Teaching Award 1998 and 2002, the SEAS Alumni Teaching Award in 2004, and the SEAS Kim Award, also in 2004. The Kim Award was created to honor a faculty member who is not only an excellent teacher, but one who also shows a special and personal commitment to students.
The APAM Department bids a fond farewell to Irving P. Herman, the Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Applied Physics, who served as Chair for nine years in total - from 2006-2012 and then from 2018-2021.
Herman graduated with SB and PhD degrees in physics from MIT in 1972 and 1977. From 1977-1986 he was a member and section leader in O-group within the Physics Department at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he was engaged in research in laser isotope separation of deuterium and tritium, and the use of direct laser writing in thin film processing. In 1986, he joined the faculty of Columbia University in the APAM Department. He is a member of the Columbia Nano Initiative (CNI) and the Columbia Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), which he directed from 1998-2010. He is Director of the Columbia Optics and Quantum Electronics IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program).
Herman has written three comprehensive books: the monograph Optical Diagnostics for Thin Film Processing (Academic Press, San Diego); the textbook Physics of the Human Body (Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York), now in its second edition; and Coming Home to Math: Become Comfortable with the Numbers that Rule Your Life with World Scientific. He has also developed three interactive seminars on ethics and presents them to students in his department.
The Department is indebted to Prof. Herman and his outstanding leadership. Prof. Marc Spiegelman said, “Through three separate rounds as Chair (a feat I am hoping not to repeat), Prof. Herman has demonstrated unflagging dedication to the Department and its many different programs. The challenges and uncertainties of the last year have been particularly daunting, yet he always rose to meet every one. Through an immense amount of work, he has left us well positioned to meet a hopefully brighter future. We cannot thank him enough”.
