The Thomas Metcalf Travel Award Program was created in 2009 to honor the memory and continue the legacy of the outstanding heliophysicist Dr. Thomas Metcalf, who passed away in a tragic accident in July 2007 at the age of 45. The program’s goal is to support early-career scientists — final-year Ph.D. students and individuals in the first three years following receipt of their Ph.D.— when traveling to solar meetings around the world and sharing their research with the community. Since its inception, the MTAP has supported nearly 50 scientists from across the globe. Many of the awardees have since established successful careers in the field of heliophysics.
Originally, the MTAP was intended to run for only 10 years. However, the success of the Program prompted the Metcalf family to contribute an additional $50K to the fund in 2020, with the condition that the SPD committee match their contribution. After the match, a total of $100K was added to the MTAP fund at that time. More recently, the Metcalf family inquired about making another donation, with the goal of continuing the MTAP indefinitely into the future. The AAS financial advisors estimated that, under many realistic scenarios, $75K added to the MTAP fund would keep it at the same real value in 20 years if spending $10K (in 2025 USD) per year (which is the current MTAP spend rate). To reach this goal, the Metcalf family generously offered to contribute an additional $50K if the SPD would match it at a 2:1 ratio with an additional $25K. The SPD Committee agreed, and as a result, another $75K was added to the MTAP fund, securing the future of the Program.
On behalf of the Metcalf Travel Award Committee, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Metcalf family for their extraordinary generosity. I also want to thank the SPD Committee for their dedication to supporting early-career scientists and nurturing the bright minds that will drive our field forward.
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Maria D. Kazachenko
Chair of the MTAP Committee
On Behalf of the MTAP Committee