Helen Edwards Receives 1985 Physics Award
Helen Edwards
Helen Edwards, Deputy Head of the Accelerator Division, has been awarded one of two Achievements in Accelerator Physics and Technology awards for 1985, the first year the award is being given. Edwards was cited for her "essential contributions in making the world's first superconducting synchrotron a reality." The award was presented on the evening of July 25, 1985 at SLAC during the Summer Accelerator School. Helen's co-recipient was John M.J. Madey of Stanford University, cited "for the invention and demonstration of the free-electron laser."
When contacted for her reaction to the award, Helen responded with the following statement to her colleagues:
"I can only accept the award in the spirit of it really belonging to the many people of Fermilab who worked to make the Energy Doubler a reality. If there is anything I feel I can take personal credit for it is for helping the various teams define their jobs and get them done, and to coordinate between these teams.
"A project such as the Energy Doubler goes through many phases, starting with the initial vision of a superconducting accelerator, through the painful research phase, the manufacturing phase, to final installation and commissioning. Leadership by necessity has come from a number of individuals, not the least of whom has been Leon Lederman without whose determination the Tevatron, as both a fixed-target and colliding accelerator, would not have taken place so as to give us the best high-energy physics tool of the decade."
1985 marks the fifth consecutive year of operation of the U.S. Summer School on Particle Accelerators, but the first year for the Achievement in Accelerator Physics and Technology award. The cash awards are made possible by donations from the Universities Research Association, Inc.; Varian Associates; the Houston Area Research Council; and Westinghouse Electric Company. The selection committee for the 1985 awards consisted of Burton Richter (Director of SLAC), Andrew Sessler (former Director of LBL), and Maury Tigner (Cornell University/Central Design Group, SSC).