The DHPP Nominating Committee has proposed the following slate of candidates for positions on the DHPP Executive Committee:

At the 1998 Business Meeting of the Division, there was discussion of changing the name of the Division (see minutes in this newsletter). At its August, 1998 meeting, the DHPP Executive Committee voted to submit to the APS Council a request that the DHPP become the Division of Polymer Physics (the name heavily supported by the membership at the Business Meeting) and that the Division's acronym be DPoly. If the APS Council approves this request, the DHPP membership will vote on this change to the By-Laws, either by ballot or at the next Business Meeting.

March 1999 Program

The APS celebrates its centennial in 1999, and numerous special activities are planned for the March meeting in Atlanta (see /centennial/). DHPP is planning special symposia on the past and future of polymer physics to tie-in to the APS centennial celebration, along with other activities including a public display booth on polymers.

Activities surrounding the Centennial will have an impact on programming. The most important is an earlier abstract submission deadline of November 13. Abstracts should be submitted electronically. In addition, reduced time is available for technical programming on Monday and Tuesday, so technical sessions may begin on Sunday afternoon and/or extend to the end of the day on Friday.

Within the DHPP technical program, focussed invited sessions are being planned on Polymers in Display Applications (co-sponsored by the Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), Defects, and Biomaterials. Contributed papers on each of these topics are welcome.

Also new this year are revised abstract sorting categories, to be used in submission of abstracts. These are the categories under the heading of polymers:

Finally, if you would be like to participate in programming by serving as a session chair at the March Meeting, please contact the DHPP program chair, Wes Burghardt (w-burghardt@nwu.edu). Your help is essential and appreciated!

The Frank J. Padden, Jr. Award, consisting of a certificate and appropriate recognition, recognizes a graduate student for "Excellence in Polymer Physics Research." To be considered for this award the student must be a member of the DHPP, must be working toward the Ph.D. degree, must not have completed the requirements for the Ph.D. before November 13, 1998, and must submit the following:

1. an acceptable abstract for the DHPP March Meeting
   (Note: Please submit by email and provide a paper copy for the award committee),
2. a 1 page C.V. (do NOT send papers or other attachments),
3. a letter from their thesis adviser addressing the quality of the graduate research and academic excellence.

Abstracts should be submitted by email to the APS by October 5, 1998. In the template space for Special Instructions, please insert "Padden Award Symposium". The abstract will be forwarded to the program chair for inclusion in the March meeting. A hard copy of the abstract, the C.V. and the adviser's letter should be sent directly to Ken Schweizer at the address on the letterhead of this newsletter. They must be received by October 5, 1998.

The Education Committee will select 5 finalists based on quality of the research, abstract, C.V., and the adviser's letter. On March 23, 1999 the Padden Award session will be held. Each of the 5 finalists will give a 12 minute (including time for questions) oral presentation. The session will be attended by the Education Committee, who will serve as judges, and by any other interested members of the DHPP or APS. The winner will be selected based on quality of the research, the presentation, and response to questions. The winner will be announced at the annual Business Meeting of the Division.

1999 Short Course: Macromolecular Physics in Biology and Bioengineering to be held March 20-21, 1999 in Atlanta, GA.