September 21-22, 2000

 

ITEM 108-2001-R0900       Authorization to Confer the Title of Professor Emeritus of Physics upon Gerald J. Lapeyre; Montana State University-Bozeman

 

THAT:                                    Upon the occasion of the retirement of Gerald J. Lapeyre from the faculty of Montana State University, the Board of Regents wishes to express its appreciation for his service to the University, the Montana University System, and the people of the State of Montana.

 

EXPLANATION:                  Dr. Lapeyre joined the Montana State College faculty as Assistant Professor of Physics in 1962.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia that same year, and was arguably the first "research faculty hire" in the Department of Physics, which was to receive approval for its doctoral degree program in 1963 under the leadership of Department Head Irving Dayton.  Dr. Lapeyre's undergraduate degree was a B.S. in Physics, earned at Notre Dame University. 

 

In order to initiate his research program, Dr. Lapeyre obtained a small grant from the National Science Foundation that allowed him to spend a summer at Stanford University working in the laboratory of William Spicer, one of the nation=s leading figures in condensed matter research.  He became, in just a few years, one of the pioneers in the field of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy based on the use of synchrotron radiation.  Rising quickly through the academic ranks because of his singular achievements in research, Dr. Lapeyre was long recognized as one of the top researchers on campus, with a nationally visible program in surface science and a prodigious production of Ph.D. graduates.  He invented two entirely new forms of spectroscopy; his acronyms CIS and CFS for these are still in use. 

 

For years, Jerry directed the Center for Research in Surface Science (CRISS), a national user facility funded by the National Science Foundation, and founded and directed SACAM, an interdisciplinary advanced materials center at Montana State University.  He was also Principal Investigator on an NSF-funded Materials Research Group.  Dr. Lapeyre organized several scientific conferences held at MSU.  He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, was a recipient of a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the American Vacuum Society in 1997, and was honored at Montana State University through the Wiley Outstanding Research Award in 1978 and the Sigma Xi Faculty Research Award in 1975.

 

For these and other contributions, the Board of Regents of Higher Education is pleased to confer upon Gerald J. Lapeyre the rank of Professor Emeritus of Physics at Montana State University and wishes him well for many pleasant years in the future.