John Wheatley Award Winner: James E. GubernatisA portrait of physics in Africa as painted by the African Physics Newsletter

The African Physics Newsletter is a quarterly, email publication whose news articles are sourced and selected by an editorial board of African Physicists and then formatted and distributed by the American Physical Society. Its purpose is to bridge communication gaps between the countries in Africa and between those in these countries and those outside of the continent. It is now in its fifth year of publication. Over this time its contents have painted a special portrait of the breadth, dynamics, and promise of the physics in this vast, economically-challenged continent. Summarizing select articles, I will highlight several areas of significant strength, character, and growth. The emergent picture is that of a community committed to physics. In many cases, this is illustrated by stories about the journeys taken by many successful African physicists to achieve their degrees.