Emily McPike awarded 2024 SPS Outstanding Service Award

About the Recipient

Emily McPike is a senior at James Madison University, graduating with distinction in physics major and minors in astronomy, computational analytics, mathematics, and honors. Emily McPike has been involved in JMU’s chapter of SPS for all four years, and she has been an active member of the executive board for three consecutive years. Following her time as secretary and social media manager, she served as Vice President, and finally serving as President this academic year. As JMU struggled to transition post quarantine, Emily took such challenges head-on and became a great leader for the organization. Emily McPike reignited our JMU SPS chapter by creating student support networks aimed to help students transition into academic life post-quarantine. One of the ways she was able to do this was by designing and hosting regular meetings that summarized and discussed opportunities for career development within JMU and beyond. Additionally, she played a key role in organizing annual trips, like a weekend at the Green Bank Observatory, as well as various other regional and national conferences (NCUR, CUWiP, Physics Congress). Emily has demonstrated passion for community building, she has continued to advocate for student needs in outside organizations like JMU College of Science and Math Student council, presidents’ council, and women in physics; connecting SPS to the greater JMU community and encouraging others to get excited about physics, while also advocating for student needs at the university level. While Emily has above and beyond by making our department and SPS a welcoming place for students, she has managed to maintain her commitments to academics, research, and personal life.