1988 James B. Macelwane Medal to Kevin B. Quest

Abstract

On behalf of my conominators, David Forslund and Dan Winske of the Los Alamos National Laboratory [LANL], I wish to congratulate Kevin Quest on his receipt of the Macelwane Medal. Kevin did his undergraduate work at Drexel University and received his Ph.D. from the Earth and Space Sciences Department at the University of California, Los Angeles [UCLA]. Somewhat prior to finishing his degree, Kevin joined the Theoretical Physics Division at Los Alamos. This coming July, Kevin will assume the duties of an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Diego in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.At UCLA, Kevin learned several lessons which are invaluable for a young theorist. Working amidst the experimental groups of Professors Coleman, Kivelson, McPherron, and Russell, Kevin came to appreciate the extreme difficulty of analyzing and interpreting satellite measurements of the complex space plasma phenomena. From Professor Ashour‐Abdalla, Kevin was trained to give clear scientific presentations that concentrated on the fundamental physics and to leave complicated mathematics to the dust bin otherwise known as the refereed literature. Finally, Kevin learned to ignore the well‐meaning, but too often errant, opinions of his thesis advisor. In fact, Kevin ignored his advisor to such an extent that 7 years later I am still waiting for a copy of his Ph.D. dissertation.