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H ISTORY A Forum of The American Physical Society • Volume VIII, No. 4 • Feb 2002 of Physics NEWSLETTER HISTORY OF PHYSICS AWARD – Benjamin Bederson, Forum Chair I am happy to relay to you the information that our Forum is initiating an award for excellence in the history of physics. The awardees will be selected by a distinguished group of historians of science and others using the highest standards of selection criteria. The idea for the award was originally presented by Laurie Brown with the help of several others on the FHP Executive Committee last year. It was approved by our Executive Committee and then submitted to the APS Council for consideration, and approved last May. I briefly outline the principal developments which have led to its present status. In May, 2001 the then Chair of FHP, Laurie Brown, wrote the following letter to the APS Council: The Forum on the History of Physics (FHP) of the American Physical Society has noted that among the many professional organizations with which historians of physics affiliate, no award specifically for excellence in the history of physics has heretofore been established. Although there are a number of awards for history of science given by relevant organizations, the Award of Outstanding Contributions to the History of Physics that is proposed … would fill a unique role in the scholarly community as well as the community of physicists. The letter then included details of how the proposed award was to be managed. continued on page 2 FORUM ELECTION Forum Elections information is contained in this Newsletter. Please vote for Vice Chair and two Members at Large of the Executive Committee. If you have email registered with APS, you will have received a message inviting you to vote electronically, as authorized by the FHP Executive Committee. If not, you should have received a paper ballot by mail. If you wa