Alumni
Physics and Astronomy Alumni
We would like to keep our Physics Department alumni database up-to-date. If you find your way to this page, please take a moment to drop us a line. Please include your name, graduation date, address and phone number, a digital photo (if available), where you are working or any updates of what you are doing now, to the UMaine Physics Dept.
The Francis Crowe Award is named for a 1905 Engineering Alumnus of the University of Maine, who was renowned for the design and construction of 19 dams in the West and Southwest, including Boulder Dam. The award is given to honor outstanding contributions by alumni and others to the several disciplines of engineering, including Engineering Physics. Recent recipients of the award include John Glenn, former Senator and Astronaut, who was honored by the University in 2001 for his contributions to Aerospace Engineering and to the Manned Spaceflight program.
Above, you can find out which of your fellow alumni have been honored with this prestigious award.
Recent Alumni News
Dr. Duncan Moore (BA ’69) received the 2017 Edward T. Bryand Distinguished Engineering Award. This award is given to an individual outside the University who has brought distinction to the profession of engineering, including research and public service.
Dr. Moore is the Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester, as well as the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering, a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and a Professor in the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. His major area of research expertise is gradient-optics materials.
His impressive career highlights include being appointed the Associate Director for Technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, under the Executive Office of the President, from 1997-2000. He also chaired the Hubble Independent Optical Review Panel (1990) to determine the prescription for the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Moore was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 1998, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree here at UMaine in 1995. He is more than deserving of the Bryand Distinguished Engineering Award.
Dr. Moore entered optics through a passion for astronomy. While at UMaine he worked at the planetarium and the observatory, and was one of the parties ultimately responsible for moving the Astronomy program from the Department of Mathematics to the Department of Physics.
In addition, the Department was honored to have Dr. Moore give the Colloquium that afternoon. He also toured the Emera Astronomy Center.
Our alumni hold a special place in our hearts. These are the people who have striven for excellence, studied long and hard, and now work in laboratories, classrooms, and offices near and far. Keep checking back for updates!
- Caleb Bonyun – (PHY – MS ’12)After completing our graduate program, Caleb worked as an adjunct instructor in physics and math at Manchester Community College in New Hampshire, while also working on content development for the online platforms, “My Math Lab” and “Mastering Physics.” This year he started work as a technical instructor in the physics department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Thomas Rolfson (EPS-ME, ’12) has been employed as an Environmental Engineer for a national engineering consulting firm, specializing in air emissions. He is happy to be living and working in his home town, in Maine, not far from his family and friends.
- Anna Schliep (PHY-MS ’12) has taught physics and mathematics at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson, and at South High in Minneapolis. She is currently working as a Compliance Engineer for the State of Minnesota Drinking Water Protection Program, where she investigates and helps water systems understand and deal with issues including arsenic, radium, cyanide, lead and copper. She has a nine year old son and one year old daughter and on top of all that, also participates in competitive fencing!
- James Guillemette (BA in Physics, ’87; MS in Physics, ’89) is the new full-time Instructor of Physics at Kennebec Valley Community College. He comes to KVCC from Winthrop High School. His credentials include a Ph.D. in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Ohio University (excerpted from the KVCC Notebook, Vol. 1, Issue 4, August 2010)
We hold several events throughout the year, to which all of our alumni are invited to attend. Please contact us if you have questions regarding these events!
- UMaine Reunion Weekend Activities in the Physics Department
- UMaine Homecoming Events
- Physics Department Colloquiums
- Join us at the APS March Meeting
- SPS sponsors the Physics Dept Holiday party every December.