dr marlan o scully a distinguished professor of physics at texas a&m university has received the distinguished scientist award for 2010 from the texas a&m chapter of sigma xi the scientific research society scully a world-renowned pioneer of quantum optics and laser physics was honored for his contributions to both fields as well as to general physics and science at the annual sigma xi induction and awards banquet held april 30 at the college station hilton he was presented with a commemorative plaque and a $750 cash prize and also invited to present the distinguished scientist lecture on the texas a&m campus later this fall it is a special thrill to receive the sigma xi award from the texas a&m (texas ‘atomic and molecular) university chapter scully said my colleagues here are super they are extra bright and extra friendly we get more groundbreaking research done because we help and care for each other i am honored to be here the award is merely the latest among the many honors and recognitions scully has received during his 45-year career including the adolph e lomb medal and charles h townes award from the optical society of america the quantum electronics award from the institute of electrical and electronics engineers inc the elliott cresson medal from the franklin institute a guggenheim fellowship the alexander von humboldt distinguished faculty prize and the arthur l schawlow prize from the american physical society in 2008 he was elected as a fellow of the prestigious american academy of arts and sciences i am so pleased that professor scully has received yet another accolade for all he has done said dr h joseph newton dean of the college of science his value to the college of science and texas a&m as a whole is immense and it is always a pleasure to see him recognized scully joins a lengthy list of notable past recipients of sigma xis top scientist award from the texas a&m college of science including chemists dr d wayne goodman (2009) dr abraham clearfield (1999) and dr f albert cotton (1997) and fellow physicist dr edward s fry (2001) head of the department of physics and astronomy we are truly fortunate to have dr scully at texas a&m fry said i heard great things about him while i was still a student at the university of michigan but i never had the opportunity to interact with him until years after i had come to texas a&m what an awakening that was! marlan is not only an extraordinary scientist; he is also an extraordinary human being highly regarded in the scientific community for his wide range of interests scully divides his time between texas a&m and princeton university where he holds a joint appointment he is active in the national academy of sciences academia europaea and the max-planck society at texas a&m scully is holder of the hershel e burgess 29 chair in physics as well as a distinguished research chair with the texas engineering experiment station in addition he serves as associate dean for external relations in the college of science professor of chemistry and engineering and director of the institute for quantum science and engineering (iqse) a research-based effort that spans the gamut of quantum physics and engineering and focuses on the study of new lasers quantum computing and nonlinear optics sigma xi is an international multidisciplinary research society honoring scientists whose work promotes scientific enterprise and rewarding excellence in scientific research founded in 1886 at cornell university sigma xi has grown to include 500 chapters across north america and around the world at colleges and universities to date there are nearly 60 000 active members more than 200 of which are nobel prize winners the texas a&m chapter of sigma xi was chartered july 1 1951 with a mission recognize encourage and promote scientific research at texas a&m university and to honor the community of science scholars to learn more about sigma xi visit http://wwwsigmaxiorg/ for more information on the texas a&m chapter of sigma xi visit http://sigmaxitamuedu/ -atm- contact: chris jarvis (979) 845-7246 or cjarvis@sciencetamuedu or dr marlan o scully (979) 862-2333 or scully@physicstamuedu