09-23-93 Researchers Wins Australian Fellowship

OHIO STATE PHYSICS RESEARCHER OFFERED $240,000 PRIZE

     COLUMBUS -- A post-doctoral researcher in physics at The
Ohio State University has been offered the prestigious Queen
Elizabeth II Fellowship by the Australian government.  The award
has come just in time for Ross McKenzie to join his sister "Down
Under," as last year she was also awarded one of the five-year
fellowships for research.

     McKenzie, a Columbus resident, (43211), 32, and his older
sister, Judith McKenzie, 35, each were selected from an
international pool of researchers to be among the 15 fellows
chosen each year to work at an Australian university.  The award,
roughly equivalent to the American National Science Foundation's
National Young Investigator's prize, amounts to approximately
$240,000 (U.S. equivalent) over a five-year period and covers
salary, research expenses and overhead.

     Though Judith has already accepted her award, Ross has not
yet decided.  Both are Australian by birth, but have spent their
academic lives elsewhere.  Ross has been with Ohio State's
physics department and Center for Materials Research for four
years while Judith has been at Oxford University in England.  If
Ross accepts the award, he and Judith will have fellowships in
the same city, Sydney -- just 200 miles from Canberra, where
their parents live.

     Both McKenzie parents hold Ph.D.s:  Mr. McKenzie's doctorate
is in chemistry, while Mrs. McKenzie's is in biochemistry.
Judith's field of study is archaeology, and her award will fund
research on the architecture of Alexandria, Egypt.  Ross, who
works closely with Ohio Eminent Scholar John Wilkins at Ohio
State, was offered the award to study the electrical properties
of a new generation of materials.

     These materials are plastics that can be made to conduct
electricity as metals do and that have applications from carpets
to computers.  The award is to work in the School of Physics at
the University of New South Wales, the best place for materials
research in Australia, according to McKenzie.

     In addition to his research, McKenzie is teaching a physics
course called "The World of Energy" to non-science majors at Ohio
State this quarter.
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Contact:  Ross McKenzie, (614) 292-8003, 261-1492
Written by Sarah Williams


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Thu, 23 Sep 93 11:50:32 EST]
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