SPS & Sigma Pi Sigma Memories: Your Favorite Moments

“My favorite memories are of an outreach program we ran yearly around Halloween called Spooky Science Day. We would dress up in costumes and do physics demos for kids in the community (and give out candy, of course).”

- Aidan Bachmann, inducted at the University of Rochester in 2023

“We went to Denver for the 2019 APS meetings. The plenary talks were amazing, and going out to restaurants with the SPS club was so fun. But the best was attending a talk on the mass of the neutrino given by my oldest daughter, Sereres Johnston, who was doing postdoc work at Argonne National Laboratory at the time. Not many undergrad physics students have a PhD daughter trailblazing for them. Later, in 2022, I received my BS in physics alongside my youngest daughter, Lisa Johnston, who was graduating with degrees in physics and math. We are a family who loves SPS and AIP for sure!”

- Dana Johnston, inducted at Andrews University in 2016

“My favorite memory has to be putting on planetarium shows for the community during the total solar eclipse we had here in Ohio. We had four sold-out shows, each seating around 150! People of all ages and backgrounds came together and were united by an interest in physics. Being part of the planning and execution of that event will forever hold a big place in my heart.”

- Ashley Zelina, inducted at Kent State University in 2024

“Mine is playing Risk at Brookhaven National Laboratory.”

- Dan Shirkey, inducted at Clarkson University in 1978

“Mine is helping organize our chapter’s annual Sigma Pi Sigma Undergraduate Research Symposium. Attendance was great, and there were great talks and posters.”

- Anran Zhao, inducted at the University of Virginia in 2024