Massachusetts university names programme after Algerian physicist

Noureddine Melikechi, an Algerian physicist and dean of the Kennedy College of Sciences, has a funding programme named after him at the University of Massachusetts.

TSA learned of the programme on Friday from Melikechi. It funds professors at the university who present innovative ideas in research and education.

The programme's full name is the Dean Noureddine Melikechi Endowed Kennedy College of Sciences Faculty Innovation Fellowships.

The university has made an initial investment of 2.5 million dollars to launch it.

"It is a great honour. I am happy that the Kennedy family and the University of Massachusetts are doing me this honour," Melikechi said.

"Having my name linked to a programme for eternity is something I did not expect, at least not in my lifetime," he added.

Melikechi has been dean of the Kennedy College of Sciences since 1996. He graduated in physics from the University of Bab Ezzouar in Algiers, then studied at the University of Sussex in England before settling in the United States.

According to the college, his research covers atomic, molecular and optical physics, including spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, optical detection, high-precision measurement and biophotonics.

He is a member of the team behind NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission and sits on the High Council of Scientists of the Algerian Community Abroad. His awards include a NASA group excellence award for the ChemCam instrument team in 2013, and the Presidential Research Award from Delaware State University in 1998.

He has also published his memoir, "Nour. Noureddine Melikechi", with Barzakh publishing house in Algeria.