Lars Bildsten
Photo credit: Mia Nie
The banner image displays how KITP programs create collaboration networks. One of the institute’s most important goals is curating events where scientists who would otherwise not have the chance to interact in a significant way can spend enough time together to form scientific connections. Each point represents a participant in a program that brought together biologists (open circles) and physicists (solid circles). The blue lines in the left-hand image shows the collaborations that existed prior to the event, whereas the red lines on the right-hand image show the new collaborations formed during the program. The increasing number of interactions is evident from the density of red lines, and you can also see that many are interdisciplinary. Across all of KITP’s programs, we find that visitors form 2-3 collaborations during their visits. That leads to nearly a thousand new collaborations every year we operate!
On a more somber note, I am saddened to report that we lost a few of our long-term KITP friends and supporters over the last several months. Most recently, Jim Simons passed away. Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation have been strong supporters of KITP, and we celebrated their support a few years back when we named the Simons Amphitheater in their honor. Thankfully Jim, along with Marilyn, was able to visit KITP for this dedication event and enjoy interacting with our scientists. We are grateful that the Simons Foundation and Marilyn Simons continue to be steadfast supporters of KITP.
We also lost Glen Mitchel, Jr. and Charlie Munger. Both personal friends of mine, they contributed tremendously to KITP. The generosity and engagement they showed to me personally, and to the international physics community, was profound. Glen introduced me to Charlie, and that led to our collaborative effort to design and build what became the Charles T. Munger Physics Residence. I share that story on page 2.
With support from the National Science Foundation, we have been hosting a yearly conference for US high school teachers for over two decades. They come for one day of pure science talks and interactions with KITP visitors. The most recent conference focused on the astronomical drama that occurs when a star in a nearby galaxy ventures too close to the central black hole and gets torn apart. These tidal disruption events are now a well-observed phenomenon that informs us about the fundamentals of accretion onto black holes and the formation of jets of material moving near the speed of light. As in all of our Teachers’ Conferences, we take full advantage of KITP visitors to create and deliver the content. On page 5, you can read about the wonderful outcomes from this event.
I mentioned earlier the loss of several of our leading KITP friends and supporters. We also lost UCSB physics legend Jim Hartle in May 2023. Jim was one of the original “Gang of Four” UCSB physics faculty who wrote the founding proposal to the National Science Foundation in 1979 that created the institute. We were honored this year to host a conference commemorating Jim’s scientific legacy, bringing together scientists from across the globe. The description of that event is on page 6.
KITP continues to benefit from the generosity of local philanthropists. On the back cover, we tell the story of Paul McEnroe. His spouse, Tina McEnroe, generously supported KITP Postdoctoral Scholars with a gift in his honor. In recognition of this investment, we have dedicated and named the Paul V. McEnroe Hall of Flags at the Charles T. Munger Physics Residence. He has quite a story of entrepreneurial adventures and remarkable impact. Just this year, he published his book The Barcode: How a Team Created One of the World’s most Ubiquitous Technologies which tells the story of that invention and the impact it has had on society. Paul has been barnstorming on podcasts, interviews and YouTube, so if you want to hear it from him, just search “Paul McEnroe Barcode” and catch his story. It’s quite an amazing journey that he has shared with all of us.
In closing, it continues to be a deep honor to lead an institution with such broad support from the international physics community, philanthropists, and the university. Most importantly, all of our achievements should be credited to KITP’s most dedicated and effective faculty and staff. Looking forward to sharing more in our next Newsletter about our continued progress and impact!
~ Lars Bildsten, KITP Director