Ani Aprahamian

Candidate for Chair-Elect, Nominating Committee

Biographical Summary
Ani Aprahamian is a professor of Physics at the University of Notre Dame. She is an experimental nuclear physicist with research interests in the field of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics. She has been the director of the Nuclear Science Laboratory at Notre Dame and the chair of the Physics Department.  She is presently the vice-chair of the National Academies decadal review of Nuclear Physics (NP2010) and the co-chair of the standing Nuclear Science Advisory Subcommittee on Isotopes (NSACI). She is a member of the board of directors for the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA).  She is also the chair of the scientific council of GANIL in France, and a member of the science advisory committee for FRIB (facility for rare isotope beams) soon to be constructed at Michigan State University.  

Presently Ani's research interests are focused on studies of exotic neutron rich nuclei that are produced in a very short flash in nature leaving an indelible signature on the abundances that are observed in the solar system today. The big bang and stellar evolution are thought to create the elements through iron but the origin of nearly 50% of the elements above iron remain somewhat of an enigma to nuclear physicists and astrophysicists alike. It is thought that a neutron rich explosive environment in the emerging supernova shock front may be responsible to the enhancement of the heavy elements through a series of rapid neutron capture and beta decay processes. A better understanding of the details of such a process is heavily dependent on the properties of nuclei involved. These nuclei lie far from stability at the very edges of what we are capable of producing in the laboratory providing one of the strong motivations for the construction of FRIB. Properties such as nuclear masses and evolution of nuclear shapes affect the rate of neutron captures, the ensuring beta decays, and therefore hold the keys to the bottle necks that may arise and the final abundances that result for the heavy elements into the actinides.  Her research group carries out experiments at Notre Dame's Nuclear Science Laboratory, the NSCL at Michigan State University, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the US, and Jyvaskyla in Finland, GSI in Germany, CERN in  Switzerland,  JINR in Russia, and Legnaro National Laboratories in Italy.  

She is a fellow of the APS, a fellow the AAAS, and a foreign member of the national science academy of Armenia.

Candidate's Statement
President Obama in his April 2009 speech at the National Science Academies promised new investments in research and education making science once again at the center of national priorities. Perhaps as members of the APS, we all realize that science and scientific discoveries are at the core of strong and sustainable economies, but the present budgetary constraints that discretionary budgets are experiencing will make it difficult to realize those goals as quickly as possible. The world has changed all around us, and it has become crucial for us to concretely relate and justify our existence to society/agencies/government. It is important that we make the case for both  the discovery potentials of our scientific pursuits to understand nature and how we contribute to economic welfare. Physicists through their contacts and travels have a much more accurate assessment of the global pulse. We can help towards economic recovery through our international perspectives, and by being a lightening rod towards applications of our science towards more rapid economic returns. All the while paying close attention to diversity in order to benefit from the entire talent pool available to us.

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