ProfessorDepartment of Physics and Astronomy
Office: Phillips Science Hall 244
Phone: (715) 836-5731
E-mail: gstecher@uwec.edu
Background
- Grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Graduated from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena with a BS in physics and history in 1987.
- Received MS (1990) and PhD (1994) degrees in physics (with a graduate minor in history) from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Doctoral dissertation, A Study of Helium-Three KapitzaResistance at Millikelvin Temperatures, was in the field of experimental low-temperature physics.
- Served as a visiting assistant professor of physics at Carroll College (now Carroll University) in Waukesha, Wisconsin, from 1994 to 1996.
- Joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UW-Eau Claire as an assistant professor in 1996. Promoted to associate professor in 2002 and professor in 2010.
Teaching:
Spring 2011:
- Phys 212: General Physics II (lecture and three labs)
- Phys 475: Mathematical Methods in Physics
Courses taught in previous semesters:
- Phys 115: Survey of Astronomy
- Phys 211: General Physics I (both lecture and labs)
- Phys 212: General Physics II (both lecture and labs)
- Phys 226: Astronomy-Solar System (labs only)
- Phys 231: University Physics I (lecture only)
- Phys 332: University Physics III
- Phys 333: Quantum Physics
- Phys 350: Electric and Electronic Circuits (both lecture and labs)
- Phys 465: Quantum Mechanics
- Hnrs 302: Honors Colloquium "Physics and History of the Atomic Bomb"
Current research interests
- Astronomical photometry of asteroids. See our group web page.
Other activities
- Act as University liaison to Hobbs Observatory.
- Coordinate Physics Thursday, the Physics and Astronomy Department's weekly meeting/seminar.
- Directed the L.E. Phillips Planetarium from 1996 to 2001.
Other academically-related interests
- Amateur astronomy. I'm active in the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society.
- Finding Ordovician fossils.
- Foundations of quantum mechanics.
- History and philosophy of physics and astronomy.
- Nuclear weapons policy, strategic studies, and technical arms control.
- The physics of flying discs.
- Science and religion. I'm active in the Chippewa Valley Dialogue on Science and Religion.
