The Department is sad to report the passing of Ward Plummer, former faculty member in our department.
Professor Plummer joined the Penn faculty in 1973, where he led the development Penn’s world-renowned effort in surface science. At Penn he served as Director of the LRSM, and later held leadership positions on the faculty at the University of Tennessee and at Louisiana State University. His academic honors include the Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society, the Welch Award of the American Chemical Society, and he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Described as a force of nature and a singular personality, Ward supervised over 40 students to the PhD during his career and was a mentor and friend to countless other young scientists worldwide.
A nice tribute to Prof. Plummer can be found on the LRSM website
https://www.lrsm.upenn.edu/news-item/professor-e-ward-plummer-1940-2020/