• Bill Dorland, a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and award-winning physicist, died on September 22, 2024.
• Joel Katzin, who worked for the NRL and Boeing, died on Monday, December 2, 2024.
• Ernest Madsen, (MS) a medical physicist at the University of Wisconsin, died on August 24, 2024.
• John Gregory Stacy (Ph.D., '85), a professor at LSU and Southern University, died on January 1, 2025. 
• Richard H. Pohle (PhD) died on November 8, 2024.

In June, 2024, a “Future Circular Collider” (FCC) workshop was held in San Francisco. Gina Rameika, Associate Director for the Office of High Energy Physics at the Department of Energy's Office of Science,  announced a new joint NSF/DOE organization toSarah Eno lead the U.S. effort on future Higgs factories.  Professor Sarah Eno was named a leader of the “Higgs Factory Steering FCC FlowCommittee” along with Srini Rajagopalan of Brookhaven National Lab.  The committee also includes two members representing the International Linear Collider. 

The planned FCC

Melanie Knouse Cline, a coordinator in the Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics (MCFP), died unexpectedly on June 3, 2024 at the age of 33.

Melanie joined the department in 2018, but her association with UMD Physics began at birth. Her father, Ernie Knouse, was a UMD employee for 30 years, and worked in electronic development at the time of his death in 1999 at age 60.

Steve Rolston presents Melanie Cline with a Staff Excellence Award in 2021.Her mother, Kari Knouse Aldridge, managed sponsored projects for UMD physics until 2006. As a child, Melanie was a frequent and welcome visitor to the John S. Toll Building.

As a UMD student, she enjoyed working for the golf course for several years while earning a degree in sociology. She accepted her MCFP position in 2018, managing the theory group’s travel and administrative needs.

Melanie was roundly enjoyed and esteemed within the department for her exceptionally helpful nature and friendliness.  During the rotating coffee klatches, she was the perfect hostess, providing a beautiful display of treats and healthy snacks and welcoming one and all with her gracious smile.

In 2021, Melanie received the department’s Staff Excellence Award, cited for “her competent, diligent and reliable work; her above average commitment to the institute's mission; her willingness ‘to walk the extra mile’; and her contribution to MCFP's positive work environment.”

Information about her memorial service can be found here: https://www.beallfuneral.com/obituaries/melanie-cline  
Her family plans a bench in the UMD Listening Garden: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-melanie-a-umd-listening-garden-bench

 Melanie and her mother Kari Aldridge (front) at Maryland Day 2000.Melanie and Kari at Maryland Day 2007.

Alumnus Juan Alejandro Valdivia has been named a corresponding member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences. 

Valdivia as a UMD student.

Valdivia received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Maryland. He earned his B.S. magna cum laude in 1991 in three majors (physics, mathematics and astronomy). He received his Ph.D. in physics under the direction of Professor Dennis Papadopoulos in 1997. His dissertation on “The Physics of High-Altitude Lightning” received the 1998 Fred Scarf Award given to the best Ph.D. dissertation in Space Physics and Aeronomy by the American Geophysical Union.  

Valdivia currently holds the position of Full Professor in the Department of Physics of the University of Chile. His experience and contributions span various areas, from plasma physics and nonlinear phenomena to the theory of chaos, complex systems, astrophysics and physics in general. He has supervised more than 20 Ph.D. and numerous M.S. theses, has served as Chairman of the Physics Department and has left a significant mark in the editorial field and as a reviewer of projects at the international level.

María Cecilia Hidalgo of the Academy congratulates Valdivia.At the induction ceremony, the president of the Chilean Academy of Sciences, Dr. María Cecilia Hidalgo, noted that "The selection of Dr. Alejandro Valdivia to our Academy is a source of great pride. His outstanding trajectory and contributions in the field of physics are an invaluable contribution to the Chilean scientific community. We are confident that their impact will further enrich our commitment to scientific progress in the country. We warmly welcome the Dr. Valdivia and look forward to working together on the promotion and development of science in Chile."