John Beacom, Professor in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), has been elected to a four-year term in the Chair line of the Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society. 

The Division of Astrophysics represents scientists working in many fields of astrophysics and cosmology within the American Physical Society (APS), the principal professional society in physics.  The Chairs of APS divisions are chosen through votes of all division members.  Members elected to the Chair line progress through the top offices in the division.  Beacom will serve as Vice Chair in 2012-2013, Chair-Elect in 2013-2014, Chair in 2014-2015, and Past Chair in 2015-2016. 

Ohio State has been well-represented in the APS leadership.  Ohio State Physics faculty recently elected to the Chair line in other APS Divisions include Lou DiMauro, the Dr. Edward E. and Sylvia Hagenlocker Chair and Professor of Physics (Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics), and John Wilkins, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Physics (Division of Condensed Matter Physics).

Beacom's research is centered on neutrinos, nearly-noninteracting and nearly-massless elementary particles, and especially on neutrinos from astrophysical sources.  The fundamental goal of Beacom's work is to help turn "neutrino astronomy" from a near-oxymoron into a observational science and to develop its theoretical consequences for both physics and astronomy.