Inaugural council meeting of the African Physical Society, 2010
Attendees of the inaugural council meeting of the African Physical Society, January, 2010.
Front row, left to right: Paul Woafo (Universitty of Yaoundé I, Cameroon), Ahmadou Waguém (Cheikha Anta Diop University, Senegal), Francis K. Allotey (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana), Najeh Thabet Mliki (University of Tunis El Manar, then President of the Tunisian Physical Society), Moïse Godefroy Kwato Njock (University of Douala, Cameroon).
Back row, left to right: Joe Niemela (Abdus Salam Int’l Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy), John Akintayo Adedoyin (University of Botswana), Malik Maaza (iThemba LABS, South Africa) Arezki Benfdila (Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria), Ndumiso Cingo (National Laser Centre, South Africa), [Unidentified], [Unidentified], Sekazi K. Mtingwa (MIT, U.S.), [Unidentified], James Uhomoibhi (University of Ulster, U.K.)
In 1983, leading African physicists and mathematicians convened to form the Society of African Physicists and Mathematicians, the precursor to the African Physical Societyn (AfPS).
The inaugural council meeting of the AfPS would take place in Senegal decades later, from January 11-16, 2010. During that time, Francis K. Allotey (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Consulting Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences) of Ghana was elected Founding President, Sekazi K. Mtingwa '71 (MIT) of the U.S. was appointed American Liaison Officer, and James Uhomoibhi (University of Ulster) of the U.K. was appointed European Liaison Officer for the society. The National Society of Black Physicists has been a major supporter of the AfPS since its inception.
The society aims to act as a forum to bring together physicists from across the nations of Africa for collaborations and to promote the field, especially in countries that don’t have a national physical society. [The] AfPS will host scientific conferences, publish a peer reviewed journal and establish a formal means to advance the status of physicists and physics research throughout the African Union. In addition, the Society includes an African Association of Physics Students as well as awards for outstanding work by African physicists.