FULLERTON : Physics Professor Receives Top Award

A Cal State Fullerton physics professor who has launched a campaign to improve classroom physics instruction has been named the university’s Outstanding Professor of the Year.

Roger Nanes will receive the award, which includes a $4,000 prize, at a special reception tonight, the eve of CSUF’s 31st annual commencement exercises.

“Roger is a shining example of what we do best at Cal State Fullerton--and this is quality teaching,” said university President Jewel Plummer Cobb. “His concern for students is the foundation of his sterling record, both inside and outside the classroom.”

Nanes co-founded the Southern California Area Modern Physics Institute (SCAMPI), which was launched at Cal State Fullerton in 1989 with a $475,469 grant from the National Science Foundation. The institute is considered a national model for improving the skills of high school physics teachers, many of whom have little or no training in the subject.

Co-founded by John W. Jewett Jr. of Cal Poly Pomona, the institute holds a four-week summer session for 52 teachers from across Southern California. The program includes teleconferences and seminars throughout the year with leading researchers in the areas of fusion, quantum physics, biomagnetics, optics, lasers and superconductivity.

“Perhaps (Nanes’) finest quality is his personal attention to you, as an individual,” said Bell High School instructor Herbert Henry, a SCAMPI participant. “He (helped) me become a better physics teacher. His ability to spark new interest and improve my skill as a teacher showed true creativity.”

Nanes also becomes the Fullerton campus’s nominee for the California State University system’s outstanding professor award.

Nanes, 46, of Fullerton, has a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and spent two summers working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Center. He also has been a visiting research chemist at UC Irvine.