Derek Boyd, Professor, received his doctorate from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1973. He joined the University of Maryland in 1973. Prof. Boyd's research program involves developing diagnostics for the electrons in high temperature plasmas, particularly those plasmas generated in large tokamaks at major sites around the country. These diagnostics have been based on the electron cyclotron emission from absorption on the magnetically confined electrons. The instrumentation has been adapted from the field of far infrared spectroscopy and conventional microwave circuitry. Pushing the frontiers of this research has led to studies as wide-ranging as the properties of materials at far infrared wavelengths, the search for new detectors, and the subtleties of the generation and propagation of the electron cyclotron waves in inhomogeneous magnetoplasmas.

Alan W. DeSilva, Professor Emeritus / Senior Research Scientist, received his doctorate in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1961. He came to the University of Maryland in 1964. Prof. DeSilva's research interests are in the study of the basic properties of plasmas, particularly dense, cool plasmas such as are found in arcs, laser-produced plasmas, and in nature in certain stars and the giant planets. Plasmas under study in the laboratory are produced in arcs and also by rapid vaporization of metal wires. They are studied mostly by optical techniques, particularly by means of interferometry to measure their time and space development, and light scattering, from which it is possible to measure the density, temperature, and electron density fluctuations and to connect these fluctuations to transport properties. He has developed a technique for measurement of the electrical conductivity of ``strongly coupled'' plasmas having densities near the density of solids, at temperatures high enough to be in the plasma state. Transport properties of such plasmas are of great interest in the study of stellar interiors. A recent interest is in studies of the physical and chemical processes occurring in lightning, carried out in collaboration with the Department of Meteorology.

Richard F. Ellis, Professor, received his doctorate in physics from Princeton University in 1970. He has been on Maryland's faculty since 1979. Dr. Ellis' research has involved the understanding of basic plasma phenomena and their application to experimental situations in magnetic fusion energy. He and his colleagues are currently attempting to measure electron parameters on the DIII-D tokamak at GA Technologies using electron cyclotron emission diagnostics.

Raymond Elton, Senior Research Scientist, Raymond Elton received his doctorate in physics from the University of Maryland in 1963 and rejoined the University in 1993 and also in 1988 on a one-year sabbatical from the Naval Research Laboratory. Dr. Elton's expertise lies in the areas of optical and spectroscopic diagnostics of high temperature plasmas and in particular the development and understanding of lasers for the x-ray spectral region. He is presently involved in fielding diagnostics for large inertial confinement fusion experiments at facilities including the University of Rochester and the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories. He also continues to consult on a regular basis at the Naval Research Laboratory on x-ray diagnostics and optical damage problems.

Hans R. Griem, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist, received his Ph.D. from the University of Kiel, Germany, in 1954. He has been at the University of Maryland since 1957. Prof. Griem's experimental and theoretical research focuses on radiation from highly ionized atoms in high temperature plasmas. Applications include radiation losses from magnetically confined plasmas, radiative energy transport in inertially confined plasmas, and the search for short wavelength lasers. He is also conducting research on electron-ion inelastic collision processes and spectral line broadening (and shifts) in dense plasmas.

Adil Hassam, Professor, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (Plasma Physics). He received BS and MS degrees in physics from MIT in 1974 and a Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University in 1978. He has been at the University of Maryland, College Park since 1978. He is an expert in dissipative magnetohydrodynamics. His research has ranged from laboratory and fusion plasmas to magnetospheric and solar plasmas. His current interests are in MHD simulations and in innovation in fusion research. He has been honored twice while at Maryland for outstanding teaching.