In August, the American Institute of Physics and AIP Foundation honored SFI External Professor France Córdova with an evening celebration in downtown Santa Fe. The event included a reception, a fireside chat between Córdova and SFI President David Krakauer, Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thomas Mason, and former U.S. Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security Jill Hruby. AIP Foundation also announced the France A. Córdova Endowed Forum on Science Policy & Society, an annual public event that will address critical issues at the intersection of science, policy, and society.
“It is our way of carrying forward Córdova’s lifelong commitment to inclusive excellence, public engagement, and the advancement of science,” AIP Foundation wrote in a statement.
Córdova’s remarkable career has spanned work as an astrophysicist, President of Purdue University, NASA chief scientist, and Director of the National Science Foundation. She is currently the President of the Science Philanthropy Alliance and, in August, concluded her term as the inaugural Board chair of AIP Foundation. Córdova was a visiting professor at SFI when she was nominated to lead the National Science Foundation under President Barack Obama in 2013, and she joined SFI’s external faculty in 2022.