ACIPA: A Look Back

The American Chapter of the Indian Physics Association was formed in 1981, at the initiative of several particle physicists of Indian origin settled in the United States. The chief objectives were to develop a spirit of unity among physicists of Indian origin living in North America and to serve as a channel of communication between this community and the physics community in India. Between 1981 and 1988, a handful of dedicated individuals, led by Professor Jogesh Pati of the University of Maryland, devoted considerable effort in an attempt to build up the Chapter. But it is fair to say that the organization did not really get off the ground during that period, in part because the only regular medium of communication was an annual get-together at the time of the April Washington/Baltimore APS meeting. This meeting is usually attended only by nuclear and particle physicists, so there was no significant input from physicists in other fields. The membership of the Chapter never exceeded 25.

In 1988, a new Executive Committee was elected to be in charge of the ACIPA, and it revitalized the organization. The organizational base of the Chapter was put on a sound footing, with a computerized mailing list of some 1400 physicists of Indian origin identified through the APS Membership Directory and the Directory of Physics and Astronomy Staff. The membership grew from 15 to 315 in 1988-89: a high-water mark that was not reached in any subsequent year. Ever since 1988, a Newsletter has been brought out regularly, with a frequency of three to four per year, and it became an effective medium of communication among physicists from all fields. Contacts were developed with the physics establishment in India, which used the Newsletter in a variety of ways: to inform us about new institutions coming up in India, to advertise job openings, to announce upcoming conferences, etc. Contacts were also established with physics organizations in the USA, including the International Physics Group (which later became The Forum on International Physics) of the APS and the Overseas Chinese Physics Association. A Constitution for the ACIPA was drafted and approved in December 1990. A Journal Donation Program was developed, under which several thousands of pounds of back volumes of physics journals were collected from our members and others and donated to physics institutions in India.

To further the objective of serving as a catalyst for communication within the Indian physics community in North America, ACIPA get-togethers--featuring talks by distinguished members--were held in conjunction with the March and April meetings of the APS; the Newsletter regularly carried news about the members of our community (research news, awards received, graduations); Membership Directories were produced and distributed in 1988, 1990, and 1992. We realized that more such activities directly benefiting our members were needed to keep the Chapter healthy and the members interested, but given the restrictions of time and money, we could not do more. But each succeeding team of ACIPA officers has kept the basic activities of the Chapter ongoing.

Let us end by mentioning two highlights from the last decade. The first was the publication in 1990 of a 184-page book on Physics and Astronomy Research in India. Originally intended as a guide for physicists planning to return to India for a career in physics, this book was found to have a much broader appeal and attracted considerable attention in India. (This was in the days before most institutions had websites. Nowadays, many Indian institutions have websites, making a new edition of a similar book less useful.) The second highlight was the organizing of two special APS sessions on Indian physics, one at the April 1993 APS meeting and the other at the March 1994 APS Meeting, featuring talks by leading physics researchers from India.

Last Modified: 8-March-2000 (N. Anantaraman)