Editor's note: This is the first of an ongoing series of profiles spotlighting the critical role of universities in particle physics research.

University of Rochester students Jaewon Park, Aaron Mislivec, Jesse Chvojka and Jermey Wolcott sit in the MINERvA control room.

NAME: University of Rochester

HOME TOWN: Rochester, New York

MASCOT: Yellow jacket

SCHOOL COLORS: Blue and yellow

PARTICLE PHYSICS COLLABORATIONS: MINERvA, CDF, DZero, Compact Muon Solenoid, Large Hadron Collider and LPC.

EXPERIMENTS AT FERMILAB: In addition to MINERvA, CDF and DZero, in the past, the University of Rochester has been involved in E706, NuTeV, CCFR and the development of the AZero photoinjector.

SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS AT FERMILAB: 6 faculty, 11 postdocs and senior scientists and 10 graduate students.

COLLABORATING AT FERMILAB SINCE: 1972

MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS: The proposal and development of detector technology and construction for parts of MINERvA, the construction of calorimeters for CDF and CMS, the construction of an outer silicon tracker for CMS, development of the DZero fiber tracker.

PARTICLE PHYSICS RESEARCH FOCUS: Neutrinos, dark matter, electroweak interactions, quarks, gravitational wave detection and non-linear quantum electrodynamics.

WHAT SETS PARTICLE PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER APART?: The University of Rochester is one of the smallest major research Universities in the country but has four theoretical and 10 experimental faculty focused on particle physics. "We are the mouse that roars."

FUNDING AGENCY: National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy

FAVORITE NATIONAL LABORATORY: Fermilab

Fermilab's Keith Ellis joins the ranks of science greats

Fermilab theorist Keith Ellis' work on the strong interaction paved the way to the discovery of the top quark, earning him recognition as one of the great thinkers in science.

The United Kingdom's National Academy of Science elected Ellis and 43 other leading thinkers in the fields of science, engineering and medicine to the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Membership is given to those who have made exceptional contributions to society. With induction to the fellowship, announced May 15, Ellis joins the company of science greats Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking.

The Royal Society was founded in 1660 as an independent academy to promote the natural and applied sciences.

"Our new Fellows are at the cutting edge of science worldwide," said Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society, in a press release. "Their achievements represent the vast contribution science makes to society. They join an outstanding group of over 1,400 Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society, and all rank among the international leaders in their field."

Ellis earned acclaim for his seminal contributions to the theory of strong interactions, quantum chromodynamics.

"He performed many of the key calculations that led to the acceptance of QCD as the correct theory," according to the Royal Society Web site. "These include the first quantitatively reliable predictions of fundamental processes observed in electron-positron and proton-(anti-)proton colliders. These results were essential for the analysis of the properties of gluons and the discovery of the top quark. Since then he has developed general techniques for precision calculation of all strong interaction processes -- an invaluable tool for theorists and experimentalists alike."

Joining Ellis in the society is Professor John P. Holdren, assistant to president for science and technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is one of eight new foreign members elected. Holdren was chose for his contributions to the understanding of energy technology and the links between populations, resources and environment.

Celebrating National Employee Health & Fitness Day

Fermilab employees celebrate National Employee Health & Fitness Day on Wednesday. People walked, ran or biked around the Main Ring.The event is sponsored by the Recreation Department and the Wellness Committee.