Fun Facts

I enjoy hiking in the mountains and have climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.
I have hiked with my daughter in the mountains of Patagonia in southern Argentina.
I have lived for a time in Chicago, Alaska, Guatemala and Scotland.

About Me

I am a professor of Physics at Seattle Pacific University and enjoy working with students. I have four kids and live in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. I have worked as an engineer with the Boeing company and with Abbott Laboratories, a medical device company based in Chicago.

Experience

I have bachelor's degrees in math and physics as well as graduate degrees in physics. I have taught college physics and engineering for 20 years, Our department's research is in the teaching and learning of science and we apply our research to our own teaching. I often work with small groups of students in tutorial type settings and am very comfortable with this method of teaching.

Approach

My approach is based first on the goals of the student, and then work on the skills and concepts that need the most improvement. The Learning Cycle suggests that students cannot concentrate for more than 10 minutes at a time so i do a mix of problem solving, conceptual understand and demonstration. Each of which is shorter than 10 minutes.