George Stecher Associate Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004 Office: 244 Phillips Hall 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 Kapitza Resistance at Millikelvin Temperatures, was in the field of experimental low-temperature physics.
• Served as a visiting assistant professor of physics at Carroll College 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.

Teaching

Fall 2008

• Phys 350: Electric and Electronic Circuits (lecture and 4 labs)
• Hnrs 302: The Physics and History of the Atomic Bomb

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 and eclipsing binary stars.

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.
• Collecting Ordovician fossils.
• History and philosophy of physics and astronomy.
• Nuclear weapons policy, strategic studies, and technical arms control.

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