13 February 2004

Plainsboro, New Jersey -- Nobel Laureate Russell Hulse, a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). New Fellows were announced at the AAAS Fellows Forum Saturday, February 14, in Seattle. The forum is part of the AAAS annual meeting. Hulse was cited for the "discovery of the pulsar in a binary system and the resulting evidence for gravitational energy radiation."

Hulse won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Princeton University Professor Joseph Taylor for their 1974 discovery of the first binary pulsar -- a twin star system that provides a rare natural laboratory in which to test Albert Einstein's prediction that moving objects emit gravitational waves, as well as other aspects of Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Hulse received a bachelor of science degree in physics in 1970 from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. He received a Ph.D. in physics in 1975 from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After receiving his Ph.D., he was awarded a postdoctoral appointment at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1977, Hulse changed fields from astrophysics to plasma physics and joined the staff at PPPL, where he has been since. Many of his efforts in recent years have been focused on new initiatives in science education. While still a PPPL employee, earlier this year Hulse began an affiliation with the University of Texas at Dallas as a visiting professor of physics and of science and math education. He is a resident of Plainsboro, New Jersey.

Each year, the AAAS Council elects members whose "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished." The honor of being elected a Fellow of AAAS began in 1874 and is acknowledged with a certificate and a rosette.

PPPL, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed by Princeton University, is a collaborative national center for science and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy source. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars. In the interior of stars, matter is converted into energy by the fusion, or joining, of the nuclei of light atoms to form heavier elements.

For further information, please contact:

Anthony R. DeMeo
Head, Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2755
ademeo@pppl.gov

Patricia Wieser
Information Services
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
(609) 243-2757
pwieser@pppl.gov

Downloadable print-quality photo of Dr. Russell Hulse. Resolution is 300 dpi, print size is approximately 4.0 inches wide by 5.0 inches high, file type is jpeg, and file size is 980 KB. Photo by Elle Starkman, PPPL.