Each year, the Acoustical Society of America presents its prestigious Gold Medal to one of its members, and I am pleased to announce that this year’s recipient is my good friend and former Physics Professor, Dr. Thomas Rossing. Dr. Rossing’s book, “Science of Percussion Instruments”, is a must read for any percussionist, especially, to understand better how our instruments work.
Acoustical Society of America
For more information, Please contact Elaine Moran 516-576-2360, Elaine@aip.org
Acoustics Expert Named Recipient of the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America
Melville, NY. 13 April 2009 -Thomas Rossing, distinguished professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University (NID) and visiting professor at Stanford University, will be awarded the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) “in recognition of outstanding contributions to acoustics.” The medal will be presented at the 157th meeting of the ASA on 20 May 2009 in Portland, Oregon.
After receiving his PhD in physics in 1954 at Iowa State University, Rossing began his professional career with the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand, where he did research on magnetic materials and applications to computer memories. After he was appointed professor of physics at St. Olaf College in 1957, he continued research on magnetic resonance and spin-wave resonance. He also served for six years as chairman of the Physics Department. In 1971 he was appointed professor and chair of the Physics Department at Northern Illinois University, where he served this university for over 30 years. He continued research in magnetism, some of it in collaboration with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, but he became more and more interested in musical acoustics, and founded an Acoustics Laboratory at the University.
Rossing’s acoustics laboratory became world famous and attracted both students and visiting scientists from all over the world. He also made research visits and established collaborations with many universities, including Oxford University (UK), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of New England (Australia), Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm), Institute for Perception Research (The Netherlands), Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications (France), Physikalische-Technische Bundesanstalt and Fraunhofer Institut (Germany), University of California (San Diego), and Argonne National Laboratory.
Rossing’s work has been recognized by fellowships in the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and ASA. His biography appears in the New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, in Who’s Who in America, and in several other biographical listings. ASA awarded him the Silver Medal in Musical Acoustics, and a Distinguished Service Citation. For the past 11 years, he has served as editor of ECHOES, ASA’s quarterly newsletter. He served as chair of the Technical Committee on Musical Acoustics for six years, and he has been a member of several other committees in ASA.
He has organized two international symposium on musical acoustics, and many special sessions devoted to that subject at ASA meetings. He has also organized special sessions on teaching acoustics, both for ASA and for the APS. He is much in demand as a guest lecturer, and has served as guest lecturer for the National Academy of Sciences and the AAAS.
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America-the world’s leading journal on acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, ECHOES newsletter, books, and standards on acoustics. The Society also holds two major scientific meetings per year. For more information about the Society visit our website, http://asa.aip.org #### NOTE TO LOCAL EDITORS: Dr. Rossing lives and works in the vicinity of Palo Alto, CA
Be sure to visit the ASA website above and listen to the sound of the cymbal they have posted! (click on “Listen to Sounds” – it’s under Musical Instruments)