Chapter Affiliation:University of Cincinnati

Candidate's Statement: My interest in this position is to continue service to Sigma Xi as I have been active in our chapter at the University of Cincinnati for many years and have served in various capacities in the leadership of our chapter.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities:

University of Cincinnati chapter:
Secretary, 1987-89
Vice President, 1989-91
President, 1991-92
Nominating Committee, 1997, 2002
President, 2009-10
Past President, member of the Board, 2009-2012

Name: Thomas Kvale

Present Position:Professor of Physics and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research
Organization: The University of Toledo

Candidate's Statement:Sigma Xi is one of the few premier, professional organizations to be both multi- and inter-disciplinary at the very heart of its existence. This is both a valuable asset and a challenge in today's climate, which has caused it to re-examine its structure. I was pleased that the characteristics of the biennial national meeting were recently changed from mainly a business meeting to more of a research meeting. This is a huge step in the right direction, in my opinion. In between the national meeting years, I would like to see regional research meetings be established. This holds the promise of more chapters in a region supporting and strengthening each other. These meetings could be coordinated with existing research symposia, or in some cases, new ones developed. The main benefit to regional meetings, however, is the opportunity for students (undergraduate & graduate) and other young researchers in academia and industry becoming involved in Sigma Xi without the high cost of national meetings. With these steps, I believe the local chapters would be revived and/or strengthened as Sigma Xi highlights its roots as first and foremost a research society. Sigma Xi's utility and strength is in the local chapters. These chapters are valuable resources to foster young investigators in research and in the safe and ethical conduct of that research. They are also the places where countless, valuable interactions take place between researchers in different fields. As I have done for over the past 30 years, I will continue to work and support Sigma Xi in whichever capacity I can.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Thomas Kvale has been a member of Sigma Xi since 1980.  He has served mainly at the local levels, being president of the UT chapter of Sigma Xi in 1997 and its director of the Sigma Xi/Dion D. Raftopoulos Student Research Symposium for the years 2002-2004.  He has served as the chapter representative to the national meetings in 1997, 2009, and 2011.  In 2011, he was placed in nomination for the Sigma Xi President-Elect office.  Also in 2011, he accepted the award for the Univ. of Toledo chapter the Chapter Program Excellence award for its support of the Posters at the Capitol: Undergraduate Research in Northwest Ohio annual event.

Biographical Information: Prof. Kvale is currently a Professor of Physics and serving as the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at The University of Toledo, where he has been on the faculty since 1986.  He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Radiation Oncology on the Health Science campus of The University of Toledo.  Thomas Kvale has been active in Sigma Xi at the local levels since being elected into membership in 1980 at the University of Missouri-Rolla.  His professional experience includes receiving a B.A. from Gustavus Adolphus College (1975), a M.S.-physics from University of Missouri-Rolla (1977), and a Ph.D.-physics also from the University of Missouri-Rolla (1984).  He was a postdoctoral fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1984-1986) and a NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow at the NASA-George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (summer 1988).  His research interests include experimental atomic physics, medical physics, and general undergraduate research.  He has held grants from the U.S. Dept. of Energy, NSF, and the Ohio Board of Regents.  Besides belonging to Sigma Xi, his other professional affiliations include the American Physical Society (APS) and its Divisions of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) and the Physics of Beams and Fields (DPBF); and the Ohio Region Section of APS; the Council on Undergraduate Research and its division of undergraduate research program directors (URPD); and SPS (Sigma Pi Sigma), The Physics Honor Society.