UMW Professor of Physics Hai Nguyen knew the odds were against him. Thousands of scientists – the best of the best from across the country – vie each year for fewer than 150 first-time fellowships with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
He estimated his chances of being chosen at .0001 percent; then the phone rang. The scholar who’d solved equation after equation on the way to a Ph.D. and post-doctoral work in atomic physics had gotten one wrong.
In September, Nguyen left his office in Jepson for an AAAS fellowship in Washington, D.C., as a science advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Instead of for students, he’s breaking complex concepts into digestible information for politicians and top-level executives who influence lawmakers on Capitol Hill. (Read more.)