(Posted March 8, 2010)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Setting ever-increasing standards for excellence, the Juniata College chapter of the Society of Physics Students recently received the Outstanding Chapter Award for the past academic year 2008-2009 for the Zone 3 region from the club's national organization for the 11th year in a row.

Advised by James Borgardt, associate professor of physics, the club competed for the honor in Zone 3, which includes colleges and universities from all of Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware and New Jersey.

The Juniata chapter has about 41 active members for the 2009-2010 academic year. The president of the club this year is Alex Barnes, a senior from Stroudsburg, Pa.; Brad Dinardo, a junior from Altoona, Pa. is vice president; Allison Mitchell, a senior from Reedsville, Pa., is secretary; and Austin Ankney, a junior from Somerset, Pa., is treasurer.

The Juniata chapter was singled out for a thriving tutoring program, its physics research and its outreach efforts in Huntingdon and surrounding communities. The club holds several annual outreach events, including Physics Phun Night, an entertaining science demonstration held every spring in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Academic Center.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.