Recent Graduate News

Are you wondering where a physics degree will take you? Here, you will find what some APSU physics grads have done. Note, that physics students that go onto graduate school are typically awarded stipends that range from $17,000 to $24,000 plus a tuition waver (which can be as much as an additional $25,000 for universities like Vanderbilt and Duke) and medical benefits.

If you are an APSU Physics and Astronomy graduate and you don't see your information below, please let us know. We try not to lose touch with anyone, but it happens occasionally. To add or update your information, please contact Sherry Bagwell. Her contact information is available at the Faculty and Staff link to the left.

2008-2009 Graduates

• JP Badasci
• Cameron Druyor is pursuing a PhD in Computational Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga's SimCenter:National Center for Computational Engineering.
• Bryan Gaither is a Research Associate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University
• Jennifer Jones is pursuing an MA in Physics at Fisk University in Nashville. She is working on piezoelectric materials.
• Cory  Keller works as an engineer for Raytheon in Virginia.
• Angela Mason works as an Analyst/Engineer for Kraft/Nabisco.
• Anthony Mayo is pursuing an MA in Physics at Fisk University in Nashville. He is working on photovoltaic materials.
• Daniel Mayo is pursuing an MA in Physics at Fisk University in Nashville. He is working on photovoltaic materials.
• Matt Mitchell works as an Analyst for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
• Michael Northington is pursuing a MS degree in Mathematics at the University of Mississippi.
• Matt O'Connell is currently pursuing a PhD in Computational Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga's SimCenter:National Center for Computational Engineering.
• Patryk Piasecki is pursuing an MA in Physics at Fisk University in Nashville. He is working on photovoltaic materials.
• Thomas Schlauch
• Jessica Travierso
• Ryan Wood is teaching Mathematics for the Montgomery County, Tennessee school system and pursuing an MA in Teaching degree at APSU.

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2007-2008 Graduates

• Chase Cox is pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Vanderilt University.
• Betsy Hall is attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is concentrating in optics in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Betsy is pursuing a PhD on an Optics Fellowship.
• Laura Winters is attending the University of Illionois - Chicago. Her plans are to pursue a PhD in Theorectical Physics.
• Josh Henry is attending the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He is pursuing a degree in Fusion Physics.
• Zifeng (Steven) Wang is attending Vanderbilt University pursuing a degree in Medical Physics.

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2006-2007 Graduates

• Daniel Hogue is a Navy Nuclear Power Officer responsible for training future Nuclear Propulsion Officers and Nuclear Field Enlisted Personnel at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, South Carolina. Daniel was the first individual in the nation selected to the Navy's Nuclear Instructor class for the Fall of 2007.
• Morgan Halfhill joined the Air National Guard and is pursuing a Masters Degree in Engineering Management with a concentration in Crisis, Risk and Emergency Management at George Washington University. While at APSU Morgan was selected as the Philanthropic Student Leader of the Year 2005-2006, she won the Vice Presidents Excellence in Leadership Award in 2006-2007, and was selected as the APSU Homecoming Queen.
• Bill Talkington plans to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience at the West Virginia University; Bill will continue with his research, cortical auditory signal processing, he performed as an REU participant research in the summers of 2005 and 2006. Bill also plans to pick up a M.S. in Electrical Engineering along the way.
• Darlene Gunther is pursuing a M.S. degree in physics at Fisk University. Darlene plans to pursue her PhD in material science from Vanderbilt University upon completion of her degree at Fisk.
• Rachel Castleberry, a chemistry, mathematics and physics major, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While at Austin Peay she was awarded the Harvill Civitan Award and the George M. Rawlins Outstanding Senior in Chemistry Award among other honors. She was also the Del Square Psi publicist for two years. Upon completion of her degree, she plans to seek employment at either NASA or a national laboratory.
• Adrian Parker is pursuing a M.S. degree in physics at Fisk University. Adrian will specialize in material physics with an emphasis in nanomaterials.  Adrian plans to pursue his PhD in from Vanderbilt University upon completion of his degree at Fisk.
• Mike DeMoss will pursue a M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Colorado State University-Pueblo.  Mike's research will emphasis simulation and modeling of manufacturing and other types of organizations.  
• Patrick Wilkerson plans to pursue a M.S. in physics with a specialization in biophysics/biomedical optics at the University of Waterloo's Physics Institute. Patrick's research will involve modeling the interaction of photons with living cells using the finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) method.

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2005-2006 Graduates

• Mike Gaither is attending The University of Maryland in College Park where he is pursuing a graduate degree in Material Science. While at APSU Mike was the Harvill Civitan Award recipient for the 2005-2006 academic year, and was the Del Square Psi president the first time they won the SPS Outstanding Chapter of the Year award.
• Pier-Anne LaChance is attending the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Pier-Anne is pursuing a Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Pier-Anne's interest as a first year graduate student is in imaging techniques involving cellular flow in the cardiovascular system. More information on Peir-Anne and her husband Kyle Covington
• Tommy Bloodworth is attending Vanderbilt University where he is performing research in friction stir welding and pursuing a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 2007, he was awarded a NASA GSRP fellowship.
• Landon Clark is attending Vanderbilt University's Medical Physics graduate program. Landon plans to obtain a Master's degree then seek employment in the highly lucrative field of Medical Physics. Salary data for Physicists
• Lori Schultz a 2006 graduate in physics with minors in math and photography, will continue her studies at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Lori's research will most likely focus on tornadoes spawned by hurricanes, a project funded by the Lightning and Thunderstorms Research Group in the atmospheric science department.
• Anita LeRoy is working toward a graduate degree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where she will study data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor for the Lightning and Thunderstorms Group in the atmospheric science department.  
• Scott Carroll, an APSU physics minor, is attending Michigan Tech where he is pursuing a graduate degree in Computer Science, with a focus in software engineering, artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction. He is currently responsible for maintaining and improving the campus-wide CCT system (harware and software). Michigan Tech also has a nice physics department; for example, they play a major role in Night Sky Live one of the systems that provides those lovely APODs.

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2004-2005 Graduates

• Justin Roperis now at Duke University pursing a PhD in Medical Physics. To learn more about Justin Roper's time at APSU check out these links: Harvill Civitan Award, Sophomore year at APSU.
• Chris Garber completed his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and is currently working at Trane Company as a controls engineer. Chris states "my degree in physics from APSU opened many opportunities for my future." One of those was the opportunity to due ballistic forsenics at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
• George Hanna is now at Duke University in the Medical Physics graduate program.
• Chris McMahon, a physics minor, is pursuing a M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics at Western Kentucky University and plans to pursue a PhD in Mathematics upon completion of his M.S. degree.
• John Willis immediately began working as a market engineer at the Trane Company upon graduating from APSU. John is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Management.
• Billy Teets is pursuing a Ph.D. in physics with an astronomy concentration at Vanderbilt University. Billy continues to be involved in outreach activities. See these links for more information about Billy's time at APSU, REU News, SARA Program, Drane Award Winner.
• Brian Pendleton, a physics minor, is working for a modeling and simulation company based out of Huntsville called AEgis. Just to be difficult (as those of you who knew Brian would attest), he lives and works in Suffolk, VA, at the US Joint Forces Command. He is taking classes in his spare time at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center, working on a master's degree with a concentration in Modeling & Simulation.

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2003-2004 Graduates

• Ryan Hulguin now attends the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, where he is pursuing a graduate degree in computational engineering in one of the only computational engineering programs in the nation.
• Patrick Malotte is president of a small, local technology supply business. The was started as P.M. Consulting in 2001 and incorporated in 2006 as Tennessee Technology Suppliers, Inc. www.tntechsuppliers.com
• James Mott graduated with degrees in physics, biology, and philosophy. James now attends a culinary school in New York and is well on his way to becoming a true Renaissance man.
• Jim Wilson graduated in 2003 with a degree in physics with minors in math and computer science. He is an officer in the U.S. Army, and he is currently the Chief of Medical Health Physics at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He is also involved in disaster response, particularly, radiologic, chemical or biological contamination.

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2002-2003 Graduates

• Jennifer Evans now Jennifer Evans-Malotte, graduated with degrees in computer science and physics. She is currently a Network Technician with the Clarksville Montgomery County School System, and is currently exploring graduate studies in Applied Mathematics or Computer Science.
• Jeff Houze is working toward his PhD at Mississippi State University in their Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.

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1999-2000 Graduates

• Dr. Matthew Drew completed his Doctoral studies at the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN after graduating from APSU. While there Dr. Drew served as Class President and was honored as Who’s Who among students in American universities and colleges. Dr. Drew is now an optometrist at the Clarksville Eye Clinic at Dover Crossing. Dr. Drew is certified for diagnostic and therapeutic eye care with injectable certification.

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1997-1998 Graduates

• Luke Finley became a high school physics teacher and track coach immediately after completing his degree at APSU. Luke has completed a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and continues to inspire high school physics students.

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1995-1996 Graduates

• Eric Bates attended graduate school at Texas Tech University where he studied muon spin dynamics in semiconductors.

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1994-1995 Graduates

• Mathew Binkley pursued a graduate study in black hole thermodynamics at Wake Forest University. Since 2002 he has worked as senior systems analyst at Vanderbilt University's Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education where he manages a top 500 supercomputer. He is also nearing completion of an MBA from Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management.

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1993-1994 Graduates

• Mike Martin recieved an MS in physics from the University of Louisville. He then worked as staff in the Physics Dept. developing microfabricated radiation detectors for a gamma ray telescope. In 2000, he left the university to work at a technology startup company, Plasmion Displays, LLC. in Hoboken, NJ where he developed laser microfabrication techniques used to boost the efficiency of plasma displays. In 2002 he returned to the University of Louisville to develop microfabricated preconcentrators for enhancing the detection limits of chemical agents and explosives. In 2006, Mr. Martin and collaborators started a company to commercialize the preconcentrators, Ultra Trace Detection, LLC. He is currently employed as a Microfabrication Scientist in the Micro/Nano Technology Center at the University of Louisville and is acting CTO of Ultra Trace Detection, LLC.
• Carsten Slosberg graduated with majors in computer science and physics. He is currently an applications developer with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

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1989-1990 Graduates

• Dr. Tim Fox, featured in APSU's Alumni Magazine in " Physics and Fastballs," is the director of medical physics for three clinical facilities affiliated with Emory University’s Department of Radiation Oncology as well as for Atlanta’s Veterans Administration Hospital. In Emory’s School of Medicine, he’s an associate professor of radiation oncology and director of both the Division of Medical Physics and Division of Computational Research and Informatics in the Department of Radiation Oncology. He’s also an adjunct associate professor of nuclear engineering in the medical physics program of the Georgia Institute of Technology
• Dr. Jaime R. Taylor was Chair of the APSU Department of Physics and Astronomy from 2000 through 2008; he is now serving as Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics. He was a NASA Faculty Fellow in the summers of 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2002. His research interests are in applications of biologically inspired algorithms or “soft computing” methods such as neural networks, fuzzy systems and genetic algorithms.

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1978-1979 Graduates

• Barry Kulback graduated in 1979 with a degree in physics with minors in math and computer science. Since graduation, he has worked for Trane Company, a Division of American Standard. After 20 years in Information Technology, specializing in Manufacturing Systems, he made a career change and entered the field of Six Sigma. He is currently a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He holds 4 patents, and is a member of the American Society for Quality. In 2006 he was named Tennessee Academy of Science's Industrial Scientist of the Year.

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1971-1972 Graduates

• James E. Bramlett, Jr. graduated in 1972 with a B.A. degree with certification with a double major in physics and mathematics. He received a M.A.T. degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga in 1978. He has taught physics and mathematics at the high school and post secondary level with a career as an engineer with BellSouth nestled between the two. He is currently employed as an Instructor at Miles College located in Fairfield, AL (i.e., the greater Birmingham, AL area).

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1969-1970 Graduates

• Fred Yarbrough retired in December 2006 from teaching physics at Ooltewah High School near Chattanooga after teaching physics for 36 years throughout high schools in Tennessee. Mr. Yarbrough was recently featured in the APSU Alumni Magazine where it states "Today, Yarbrough is spicing up life by pursuing his lifelong craving – a change from stirring up new ideas to whipping up favorite dishes."

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1967-1968 Graduates

• Mike Mobley is the owner of Mobley Radiation Consulting. He has represented the state of TN since 1984 as a commissioner for Southeast Low-Level Radioactive Waste Managemment Compact Commission and is the current Chairperson of the organization. Mr. Mobley is a retired director of the TN Division of Radiological Health and worked in every aspect of the Division's broad radiation control program. He is a past chairperson of the Conference of Raiation Control Program Directors, Inc. (CRCPD), and has served in many roles and on numerous committees for the CRCPD. Mr. Mobley received the Gerald S. Parker Award (CRCPD's highest award) in 1996 for his significant contributions to radiation protection.

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1965-1966 Graduates

• Dr. Dudley Miller served as a physicist for the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) in Charlottesvill, Virginia, for over 29 years. Prior to his service at NGIC he taught and did academic research in theoretical nuclear physics at the Univ. of Maryland, MIT and the Univ. of Virginia for seven years. His dissertation "Relativistic Self-Consistent Field Calculations for Nuclei" showed that relativistic effects could be important for understanding nuclear structure due to the complexity of the nuclear force (relativistic dynamics as opposed to relativistic kinematics).

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1964-1965 Graduates

• Dr. Ronald I. Miller is employed as a physicist and Senior Intelligence Officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center (DIA/MSIC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, and also as the DIA Member of the Directed Energy Weapons Subcommittee (DEWS) of the U.S. Intelligence Community in Washington, DC. He chaired the DEWS from 1990 through 1998. He has been on the DEW staff at MSIC for 30 years, and prior to that was with the Boeing Aerospace Company for 7 years. At MSIC, Dr. Miller has been responsible for the management and direction of scientific and technical analyses of foreign DEW systems (primarily laser and radiofrequency weapons) for the air defense, anti-satellite, and ballistic missile defense missions. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the Directed Energy Professional Society, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and serves as an advisor the Departments of Defense, State and Energy, and the Congress on foreign DEW systems and technology. He was awarded the National Intelligence Medal in 1999, and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame in 2004.
• Carlton Flatt is Tennessee's winningest coach with a 355-67-1 record, including 10 state championships and 20 championship appearances! Coach Flatt built a powerhouse football program at Brentwood Academy. In the 1990's Sports Scholastic America ranked Brentwood Academy as the fifth best high school football program in the nation. During that same era, the team was voted third best in the country by the National Prep Poll and, since 1983, was noted five times in USA Today's Top 10 in the nation. 1965 was a good year for Coach Flatt. He was the Varsity football captain at APSOU, was named Ohio Valley Conference Quarterback and Player of the Year, and was Mr. Austin Peay State University. However, what few know is that Coach Flatt was also a physics and mathematics major at APSU graduating with a 4.0 in both subjects. Coach Flatt went on to receive a M.S. in mathematics from Tennessee State Technical Institute.