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Founded in 1948, AAAS is the world’s largest federation of scientists, with more than 134,000 members from 130 countries and 272 affiliated societies with more than 10 million members. Fellows are elected by their peers, and 291 new fellows, who have “advanced science or fostered applications deemed scientifically or socially distinguished,” will be honored at the 2003 AAAS annual meeting in February in Denver.

Karl Böer
A pioneer in the field of solar energy, Böer came to UD in 1962 and was the first director of the Institute of Energy Conversion. He holds 28 patents.

Karl W. Böer, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics and Solar Energy

Böer was cited in the physics section of AAAS fellows for “fundamental studies of electro-optical properties of CdS, including first observation of Franz-Keldysh effect, stationary and moving high-field domains and current channels.”

Böer has served on the advisory board of the Photonic Center of the WISTA Scientific and Industrial Center Berlin-Aldershof. He is the author of “Survey of Semiconductor Physics” and serves on the editorial boards of “Energy Conversion and Management” and “physica status soldi,” which he founded. He is former editor-in-chief of “Advances in Solar Energy.”

Among his honors, Böer is a fellow of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers, and was one of the first 37 fellows of the American Solar Energy Society. He also has been a fellow of the American Physical Society since 1965.

The Karl Wolfgang Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit, consisting of a bronze medal and a $40,000 stipend, was created in 1987 in his honor by the University, and UD presented Böer with the Medal of Distinction, its highest honor, in 1998.

He also donated the Karl Wolgang Böer Papers to the University Library, and a named professorship, the Karl and Renate Böer Professor of Materials Science Engineering, honors him and his wife, who is an authority in the field of international trade.

Böer received his doctorate from Humboldt University’s Institute of Physics, where he later served as a director and chaired professor.

Billy P. Glass
Glass came to UD in 1970 after working in research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. He holds joint appointments in geology and marine studies and chaired the geology department from 1986-96.

Billy Glass holds joint appointments in geology and marine studies and chaired the geology department from 1986-96.

He is cited by AAAS in the geology and geography section of fellows for “distinguished research on the properties of impact ejecta, tektites and microtektites, including their composition, petrography, age, origin and distribution throughout the world.”

His research is more than worldwide, extending from Antarctica to the Chesapeake Bay to South Africa, from the ocean floor to the moon, studying lunar samples from Apollo and the USSR, tektites and microtektites (glassy bodies formed during meteoric impact), core samples from the ocean floor and impact craters.

He recently discovered a new mineral, which he named “reidite,” a high pressure form of zircon, which was found in impact ejecta in the Chesapeake Bay. Glass will make a presentation on this topic before the Geological Society of America this month. His research is currently funded by grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Glass has published extensively in his field, served as associate editor of “Meteoritics” from 1989-91 and is the author of “Introduction to Planetary Geology.”

Among his honors, Glass is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the Meteoritical Society and has received the Antarctic Service Medal and Nininger Meteorite Award.

Glass received a B.S. in geology from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in marine geology from Columbia University.

Article by Sue Moncure