Physics Faculty
Department chair: Kara Beauchamp | Contact info
Faculty
Kara Beauchamp
W.F. Johnston Professor of Physics and Engineering
Teaches courses in physics, including Astronomy, Introductory Mechanics, Modern Physics, and Astrophysics. She currently collaborates with students on astrophysics research projects, and she has also studied high-temperature superconductors, magnetic materials, dye-sensitized solar cells, and local wind energy project feasibility. Ph.D. in physics, University of Minnesota.
Danielle Grimes
Assistant Professor of Engineering and Physics
Teaches courses in engineering and physics. She has internationally published research papers and conducted years of diversity research in engineering. Her dissertation for her Ph.D. in engineering education was about "stereotype threat," breaking pre-existing notions about what it means to be an engineer. She earned in Ph.D. from Mississippi State University.
Niloofar Kamran
Assistant Professor of Engineering
Teaches introductory physics and engineering courses such as Engineering Thermodynamics, Engineering Circuits, as well as upper-level courses in engineering, such as Fluid Dynamics, Heat Transfer, and Signals and Systems. She is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She is interested in new technologies in the aerospace industry, spacecraft attitude control and her research focuses on controlling nonlinear systems. Ph.D. in engineering physics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; M.S. in aerospace engineering and B.S. in mechanical engineering.
Derin Sherman
Professor of Physics and Engineering
Teaches courses in physics and engineering, including Engineering Circuits, Lagrangian Mechanics, upper-level Electricity and Magnetism and the physics capstone Advanced Experimental Physics. He also teaches the nonmajors courses Science through Film and Fiction and Electronics for Everyone. Ph.D. in physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Emeriti Faculty
Lyle Lichty
Professor Emeritus of Physics and Engineering
Harlan (Cot) Graber
Professor Emeritus of Physics
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Kansas.
Richard Jacob
Professor Emeritus of Physics and Computer Science
Ph.D. in Physics, University of Wisconsin.