It is a great pleasure to report that Richard Price, a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faculty, will become the next Editor of the American Journal of Physics. The job of the search committee was not easy, as there were many excellent candidates. And though it will be difficult in many ways to leave this job behind, I am comforted by the fact that Richard Price is superbly well-qualified for this position.
Richard's academic career is very impressive. He was a student at Cornell University, where he received an M.S. equivalent in Engineering Physics. He continued his studies at the California Institute of Technology and earned his Ph.D. for work on relativistic gravitational collapse. For the next three decades, Richard was a faculty member at the University of Utah, and this was followed with a position at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Currently, he is a faculty member at MIT, which will become the new home for the AJP editorial office. Among the many highlights of Richard's career: he is a fellow of both the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he won the University of Utah's Distinguished Teaching Award, he has chaired the APS topical group in Gravitation, and he has been elected to chair the New England Section of the APS.
Richard's publication record is equally impressive, with over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals and three books to his credit. Notably, 23 of his publications have been in the American Journal of Physics. Moreover, he is a past member of AJP's Editorial Advisory Board, and has been one of the best reviewers I have had the pleasure of working with during my tenure as Editor. Not surprisingly, he was awarded an APS Outstanding Referee award in its inaugural year. In addition, Richard co-developed a course in technical writing at the University of Utah and spent two terms as Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters. Such experiences will no doubt prove useful to him in his new role.
Richard will begin as an Associate Editor, officially taking over as Editor on September 1, 2017. Until then, I will continue to make all final decisions and am the one to whom all complaints should be directed. This relatively long transition period will give Richard time to become familiar with the operation of the journal, and to plan for how he wants to structure the editorial office. Currently, there is a single associate editor who spends a lot of time helping prepare articles for publication, but there are other models that might be more efficient. Whatever he decides, the transition period should provide him with ample time to arrange for the support he will need to carry out the job.
Beyond his technical qualifications, Richard impressed the search committee with his passion for becoming the Editor of AJP and for his broad perspectives on the future of higher education, physics departments, and journal publishing. On a personal note, it was a real pleasure to talk with someone else who holds AJP in such high regard. In his application letter Richard wrote, “Reading professional research journals is part of our work; reading AJP is closer to the fun we remember when we were first learning physics.” I couldn't agree more. The journal is going to be in very good hands when I step down, and I look forward to working with Richard in the months to come.
David P. Jackson, Editor
