Instructor of Physics

Joined NCSSM August 2010

B.S. Physics, Highest Honors, B.A. Mathematics,  B.A. French – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1983)

Ph. D.—Condensed Matter— The University of Virginia (1992)

Academic Interests

Physics Education research, use of demonstrations in the classroom and with the public, use of teaching technologies in introductory Physics courses, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy of atoms and Charge Density Waves in quasi-one and two dimensional materials

Selected Career Highlights

Virginia Military Institute (’93-’99)

  • Taught introductory Physics to engineers/PreMeds each semester and summer.  Developed two courses in How Things Work, developed and team taught a course in Environmental Leadership, supervised the chapter of the Society of Physics Students with trips to several APS and Virginia Academy of Sciences (VAS) meetings
  • Conducted approximately 15 demonstration programs per year throughout the state of Virginia
  • Judge for many years for the Junior Academy of VAS.  Editor, Vice-Chair, and Chair of the Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics section of VAS

Duke University (’99-‘09)

  • Taught introductory calculus-based Physics for PreMeds each semester and each summer. Supervised the chapter of the Society of Physics Students with an annual poster session for Undergraduate research
  • Reconstructed the Physics Demonstration Facility.  Expanded the collection from approximately 60 to over 500 demonstrations.  Supervised demonstrations for instructional use and by outreach efforts by students and faculty.  Presented many demonstration programs each year throughout the state of North Carolina

UNC-Chapel Hill (’99-’10)

  • Taught several sections of the PH116 Introductory Physics Lab

NC State University (’10)

  • Taught several sections of PH205M and PH205N Introductory Physics courses

American Association of Physics Teachers

  • Past Chair of the North Carolina Section
  • Past Chair of the Nominating and the Professional Concerns Committees for AAPT national organization

 Publications

  • Adiabatic and Isothermal Measurements, The Physics Teacher, 34 (March 1996)