Fulbrights go to physicist, physician

Physics professor Ashok Das and physician Ronald Epstein have received J. William Fulbright scholar grants for the current academic year.

Das, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, began his eight-month stay at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in January. His research and lectures are focusing on integrable models and the finite temperature field theory. Das will be writing research papers in collaboration with others while in Brazil.

After earning a doctorate in physics at SUNY Stony Brook, Das joined the University faculty in 1982. The following year, he received the Outstanding Junior Investigator Award for research on high energy physics by the U.S. Department of Energy. In 1987 and 1990, Das was awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. In 1991, he received the University's Edward Peck Curtis Teaching Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Ronald Epstein, an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Psychiatry in the Medical School and a practicing family physician at Highland Hospital, began his five-month stay at the Institute of Health in Barcelona last October. His work concentrates on behavioral science and medical education. In collaborating with other Spanish family physicians, Epstein is exploring methods to improve patient and doctor communication within the changing health care system in Spain. He is also a visiting professor in Cordoba and Santander.

Epstein is director of predoctoral education in the Department of Family Medicine. Recently, he received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Award. The University also has named Epstein a George Engel and John Romano Dean's Teaching Scholar in honor of his contributions to education.