Tom Rossing (right) is playing the HANG with his former graduate student Andrew Morrison. Oct. 10, 2003
Rossing Fund
In 2007, Dr. Thomas Rossing made a generous donation of $30,000 to the Illinois Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Dr. Rossing's wish was to have the money be invested such that the interest earned would be used to pay for presenters invited to speak at joint meetings involving the ISAAPT.
From 1971 to 2007 Dr. Rossing was a Professor of Physics at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. He is the author of over 300 publications (and 13 books) on the physics of music, magnetism, and physics education.
In late 2021 the ISAAPT learned that Dr. Rossing has written an autobiography that mentions the Rossing Fund. Although the autobiography mentions that no awards have yet been given, this is no longer true! The Rossing Fund has been used to bring invited speakers to several ISAAPT meetings which were held jointly with other sections.
Professor Rossing is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, AAAS, and has been an active member of the ISAAPT as well as the AAPT. He was the president of the Illinois section in 1986 and received the Distinguished Service Citation in 1987.
The Rossing Fund is currently managed by the AAPT's Finance Department through an agreement that essentially allows the ISAAPT to use all monies above the principal of $30,000 to grant honorariums and expenses to speakers invited to present at joint meetings involving the ISAAPT.
Once the ISAAPT member acting as host of a joint meeting has determined the cost of an invited speaker, he/she can request (through the ISAAPT Secretary/Treasurer) for available money in the Rossing Fund. The Secretary/Treasurer will then acquire a check from the AAPT Finance Department for the total cost of the speaker or the available money in the Rossing Fund, whichever is less.