Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof. Emeritus Frederick Reines and the Department of Physics and Astronomy were honored when Physical Sciences II was dedicated as Frederick Reines Hall, in an historical ceremony on May 12, 1997. Included with the naming were the unveiling of the title on the building, the unveiling of a bust of Emeritus Prof. Reines in the foyer, and a display of Nobel ceremony pictures and awards in the foyer. A large crowd attended, including Mrs. Sylvia Reines. The ceremonies were followed by a reception.
The speakers were Dean of Physical Sciences Ralph Cicerone, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1995) Prof. Emeritus F. Sherwood Rowland, UCI Chancellor Laurel Wilkening, and the founding Chair of the Department of Physics, Prof. Kenneth Ford. Professor Reines was honored for his Nobel Laureate research in discovering the neutrino, for his being the founding Dean of Physical Sciences and recruiting the first physics faculty, and for his leadership of the neutrino group at UC Irvine. It was also noted that neutrino group in the IMB experiment co-detected the first neutrinos from a supernova explosion in 1987. Chancellor Wilkening unveiled the bust of Prof. Reines which will remain in the foyer of Frederick Reines Hall. The bust was sculpted by artist Garth Tietjen. Chancellor Wilkening also announced that Physical Sciences I will soon be re-dedicated as F. Sherwood Rowland Hall. Dean Cicerone presented Prof. Reines with a picture of Frederick Reines Hall with its name letters on it. Also mentioned was Prof. Reines' excellent singing voice in his performances in Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, his physics related poetry, and examples of his humor. Prof. Reines thanked the speakers and audience for the honors.
Also announced was the institution of the First Annual Reines Lecture in honor of Frederick Reines. The inaugural lecturer was Dr. Peter Rosen, Associate Director of Energy Research for High Energy and Nuclear Physics, Department of Energy, and former Dean of Sciences at the University of Texas, Arlington. Chair Jon Lawrence introduced Dr. Rosen. Dr. Rosen gave a well illustrated history and overview of the solar neutrino problem, current experiments, and possible solution of the problem involving neutrino oscillations enhanced by their index of refraction in the solar material. The title of his talk was "Searching for the MSW Enhancement", as the theory of this is called, after Mikhaev, Smirnov, and Wolfenstein. Dr. Rosen also covered the long range possibility of the detection of such oscillations through the earth.