Alumni News

Excerpts from the department newsletter, June 2007:

Donya Dobbin (BS 1997, MA 2002) has returned to work on her Master’s degree in education, and will be teaching several physics courses for us over the next year. 

Richard Bell (BS 2001) has also done some part-time teaching for us, as well as for KVCC.  He teaches introductory astronomy as well as serving as president of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society.

Professor J. Thomas Dickinson (’63) received the “Eminent Faculty Award” this past spring, the highest honor bestowed by Washington State University on her faculty.  Tom has received many other awards and recognition during his career as a successful researcher and innovative teacher.  He was named a distinguished alumnus of WMU in 2003.

Excerpts from the department newsletter, December 2005:

Ali Alnaser (PhD '02) has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at the Abu Dhabi University in the United Arab Emirates. Prior to that he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Kansas State University since graduating from WMU.

Rod Price (MA '04) has accepted a faculty position in physics at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek. During his time at WMU Rod taught some of the department's undergraduate courses including the calculus-based PHYS 205/207 sequence, an experience that should serve him well in his new position.

Michelle Tuel-Benckendorf (MA '04) recently moved to the west coast where she accepted a position at the Everett location of the Boeing Corporation in Seattle, WA. In her new job Michelle is working on the stress analysis of internal components (storage bins, ceilings, partitions, etc.) of commercial airplanes.

Adam Lincoln (BS '04) dropped us a line to let us know how things are going at Wayne State, where he is working on a Ph.D. in Physics. He wanted to express his appreciation for the quality of the education he received here at WMU, reporting that his preparation for graduate work was much more than adequate. Adam summarized: "I can tell that my undergraduate education at Western was even better than I realized." Thanks for the positive feedback, Adam!

Excerpts from the department newsletter, February 2003:

William Sigourney Hough (B.A. '48) wrote to us after the first department newsletter with the following words:
Great event! So glad I got one. Intend to use the reply form soon and contribute a few short "sea stories" of the 1944 V-12 units and Mr. Marburger and Dr. Rood. … (I was an) I.G.Y. 1957 member of the first wintering over group at the South Pole Station, Antarctica. Ionospheric physicist, Geomagnetism and Earthquake Seismic Observer…. Do not let the Physics Department Newsletter die.

We received a very nice letter from Hal Gaut, BS Physics 1965 from Western Michigan College. Here are some excerpts:

It was great to receive the Premier issue of the Physics Department News. It looks like a first rate undertaking. Well done! …we have made frequent trips back to the area and have been able to watch the growth of the University over the years. It's a far cry from the days when the Physics Department, under Dr. Rood, shared the second floor of McCracken Hall with the OT program. As a senior I remember a lot of midnight oil burned working with Dr. George Bradley in the High Vacuum Lab we built adjacent to the old Planetarium in the basement. Primitive, but a great experience.

Became involved in Health Physics at Argonne Labs. During the dismantling of CP2, I obtained a 2" cube of graphite used in the original (CP1) structure under the Stagg Field stands. Some years later (after my wife declared it a "dust-catcher") it found a new home in Dr. Rood's office. Often wonder what happened to that chunk of history.

Had a short tour of military duty, where I was fortunate enough draw duty teaching mathematics to prefix-5 (nuclear deployment) candidates. My old Western lab partner, Richard Doolittle (now Dr. Doolittle, honest!) got stuck in a bakery company. Go figure.

Moving back to Michigan I joined the Federal Civil Defense organization and helped develop their regional CBR Defense programs. This subsequently precipitated our move to Maryland where I soon transferred to the AEC, just before they split into the NRC and ERDA. During this time I formed a multi-agency task force charged with helping states develop off-site emergency plans around nuclear reactors. Ten years ago I decided to retire from formal employment. It's great but I'm even busier.

…I introduced a "Physics of Sound" course in the curriculum of a choir camp at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania. Guess all I'm really doing now is singing with International Champion Barbershop Chorus, the Alexandria Harmonizers. Interesting to note that the barbershoppers have their own Physics of Sound course at their annual Harmony College in Missouri. When I took it, the instructor was Dr. Jim Richards, a Ph.D. from 3M. Really tough going "back to school", but he was fantastic. Reminiscent of Dr. George Bradley, who was always able to mix his music with his physics. He and Walter Marburger are two of my best memories. They taught me a lot more than "just Physics".

Thomas Dickinson, 1963 WMU graduate in physics, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was previously chosen as one of the first 20 fellows of the American Vacuum Society. Dickinson was recognized for "his pioneering and innovative work in basic bond breaking mechanisms, and the forces on particles at solid surfaces during mechanical or radioactive stimulation." After getting his bachelor's degree at Western, Dr. Dickinson did graduate work at the University of Michigan and received his Ph.D. in physics in 1968. He immediately joined the faculty at Washington State University in Pullman, where he has taught and conducted research ever since.

Dickinson has earned distinction for both his research and his teaching, especially in recent years. In 1993, he was awarded the WSU President's Excellence Award for Research, and in 1991 he delivered the Distinguished Faculty Address. He received the College of Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award and was named a Westinghouse Professor in 1994. In 2001, Dickinson won the Thomas Lutz Teaching Award, and he was recently named as WSU's first Paul Anderson Distinguished Professor of Physics. He has developed laser techniques that may help national laboratories analyze part of the nation's nuclear waste materials, such as those in Hanford storage tanks.

Stephen R. Lewis (Roger) (B.S. '65) informs us that he went on to become an Engineering Manager with Hughs Aircraft Co., specializing in automating manufacturing tests for spacecraft for commercial communications, weather satellites, and defense department Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence systems on satellites. Stephen adds: Since 1989 I have kept busy with recycling projects and learning programming and configurations of PCs. Unfortunately they seem to be able to develop changes faster than I can keep up as a part time hobbyist. But it is a great race trying to keep up… Again, great job and thanks for the effort.

We've learned that Chun Ming Leung (B.S. '69), formerly a physics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is now Vice President of Technology and Development at The Open University of Hong Kong.

Pete Anderson (B.S. '80) earned his M.S. in physics from the University of Notre Dame, and went on to teach physics at Lawrence Technological University (LTU), at Woodbury University in Burbank, CA, and now at Oakland Community College (OCC). He has been there for six and a half years now, and last year he became the Chair of the Science Department at the Highland Lakes campus of OCC. Pete is married with one child. They live in Farmington Hills, MI.

One of our most recent alumni, Daniele Bortolotti (B.S. '01), married shortly after graduation, and he, his wife, and 1-year-old twin daughters now live in Boulder. Daniele is a graduate student at the University of Colorado and JILA, working with John Bohn on theoretical Bose-Einstein condensation (and collaborating with the experimental group that won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics!).

Although not technically an alumnus, Benjamin Sonday was enrolled in WMU physics courses while a student at Schoolcraft High School. He has since been selected as Michigan's Heisman Winner for his athletic and academic performances, and is now enrolled in the Honors College at the University of Michigan. Ben, who was only 16 at the time, received two WMU Physics Book Awards for earning the top grades in both Physics 205 and Physics 207.