Physicist Career Profiles

Sam’s initial interest in physics was the result of having great math and science teachers who sparked his interest in describing the natural world with physics and mathematics.

Physics has prepared Joe to be comfortable with unanswered questions and not necessarily knowing what’s coming next - and entrepreneurship certainly involves both of these things.

From a physics background he was able to easily enter engineering, and in the business world, Brent uses his knowledge of science and technology to understand his company's products and make well-informed executive decisions.

Tae took his physics know-how to the video game industry, becoming a consultant and controls engineer for two games in the popular Tony Hawk skateboarding game series.

Tracee says there are so many things you have to learn outside of your formal training when you become an entrepreneur, including accounting, business, law, marketing, and other non-technical disciplines. “You can go anywhere with a physics degree."

Neha Pachauri is currently working as a Manager (App Dev Engineering) at Amazon, where she leads a team focused on developing automated solutions for Amazon's third-party sellers.

Amy worked with a variety of inventors to write their patent applications. Amy found the discipline and logical thinking skills learned through her physics background to be especially helpful when researching these highly specialized inventions.

Desiré found her dream job at the Exploratorium, a museum where she works in science education and teaches hands-on professional development workshops.

Jessica utilizes her astrophysics background through data science to understand the world around her.

Kenny's inventing mind and love for sailing has him tackling renewable energy in innovative ways.

Hedgemon Co-Founder and COO Nathan Swift has combined physics with other experiences in business.

Working in publishing and teaching, as well as consulting with the Optical Society of America, Wendy encourages students to pursue photonics.

Rhett Creighton, with his entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, has worked in tech and programming and currently runs his start up, GitHire.

After having several different careers across her life, December Martin combined her passions for helping people and the ocean by becoming a Program Manager at Sofar Ocean, a company that helps to unlock ocean data at scale.

Nicolas Hayek co-founded the Swatch Group and was a creator of the SmartCar.

Maggie is a consultant at Clarkston Consulting in North Carolina. Clarkston is a management and technology consulting firm, which focuses on the consumer products and life sciences industries.

David X. Cohen is an American television writer and producer.

Debbie decided that she wanted a life outside of academia and research. She took her smarts to Wall Street and became a quantitative risk analyst.

Jacqueline Benitez discovered a love for teaching through astronomy.

Christina Barrow is a medical physicist at the Department of Veteran Affairs in Louisiana.

Meghan Anzelc is an executive leader in data and analytics product development and deployment.

With a physics mindset and an entrepreneurial drive, Brian Andrews started SuperCap Solutions with partner Nihar Chhatiawala.

Albin Gonzalez is a medical physicist at Mercy Health Cancer Center in Ohio, where he oversees all aspects of radiation safety and treatment for cancer patients.

Didi’s approach to architectural design is extraordinary and merges science and art to produce award-winning structures.

Zahra Hussaini is a senior software reliability engineer at Google.

Paul Markoff-Johnson's work impacts items that power our daily lives, from disc drives to solar panels.

John Dirk refers to himself as a “curious human.” When he graduated high school, he was looking for a degree that would help him to better understand the world.

Anthony Day is affiliated with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Collin Joseph is a biophysicist who has built detectors for Fermilab, among many other accomplishments.

Claudia Alexander is a leader in space science.

Hakeem Oluseyi has earned three degrees in physics and one is mathematics, worked in Silicon Valley, and has earned multiple patents, including inventions in computer chips you use every day.

Spending almost 1000 hours in space is amazing, and Ellen will never forget her memories of being in space.

Brenda found work-life balance and fosters her passion for research and mentoring by working at a lab.

Cody's work combines machine learning, computer programming, data algorithms, large data sets, as well as designing user studies, survey questions, and using statistics to interpret them.

Kathy McCormick is a physical scientist at US Government Accountability Office.

Julia Scherschligt is group leader of the Thermodynamic Metrology group at NIST.

Ginger Kerrick is a physicist at NASA and she is the first Hispanic female NASA Flight Director.

An astronaut with a PhD in plasma physics, Chang-Diaz has also started his own company and is an environmental advocate.

Beth Brown was a NASA astrophysicist and the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in astronomy from the University of Michigan.

Alison Binkowski's physics background has given her strong analytical skills and taken her across the world.

Lynett Rock, a member of the Cherokee Nation, first learned physics via satellite. Now she teaches college physics and math in person.

Shahida Dar, as a community college associate professor, focuses on teaching, mentoring, administrative work, and science outreach, especially among female students.

Thomas is a teacher who shares his love of physics and other sciences with his high school students.

Camp director, professional kayaker, and online editor Middy Tilghman credits his physics background with a "rigorous, analytical way of thinking" that has served his nonlinear career.

Michael Long is a writer, educator, and comedian.

Astrophysicist Kelle Cruz studies brown dwarf stars and works as an assistant professor at Hunter College.

Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD, theoretical physicist, holds the distinction of being the first African American woman to earn a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ron collaborates with scientists from all over the world. He is also actively doing research on topics ranging from the history and philosophy of physics to math models of the spread of disease.

Evelynn Hammonds is the Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University.

A full professor, Nadya Mason researches the way electrons behave and interact in “low dimensional” materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene.

After earning her PhD, Julie decided to become a clinical medical physicist to interact with patients rather than only doing research.

Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, who has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film.

Now, Luz is a professor at the University of Maryland where she studies liquid crystals.

Erin Scanlon's work as a physics education researcher combines teaching, research, and service.Teaser is needed

Gina finds her research rich and satisfying because she thinks deeply about physics, both as a teacher and as an education researcher.

In 2004, Lisa was recognized as the most cited theoretical physicist in the world with about 10,000 citations on her work.

Astronomer Keivan Stassun studies exoplanets, research that has taken him across the globe, from Hawaii to South Africa.Need a teaser here.

Edward Thomas teaches and conducts research in physics at Auburn University using optical methods like lasers and spectroscopy to measure plasma.

Alicia Soderberg uses physics in her research on supernovas to better understand what comes before supernovas and how supernovas occur.

Marta Dark McNeese is a professor at Spelman College.

Jax Sanders, professor of physics at Marquette University, focuses their research on advanced interferometry.

James Kakalios, professor at the University of Minnesota, teaches physics with comic books and superheroes and consults for movies such as Watchmen.

Alice White is a professor and chair at the Boston University College of Engineering.

Gabriela is currently a professor in the physics and astronomy department at Louisiana State University (LSU).

Ramón is an assistant professor at the University of Utah specializing in physics education research with a focus on equity and inclusion in physics and astronomy.

Haiyan is studying the internal structure of the neutron to see if its behavior changes when properties like space, time, or charge are reversed.

Alejandro Rodriguez is currently Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University.

Brett's education and career have led him on a journey studying physics, philosophy, and law.

Steven Chu, 1997 Nobel Prize winner in physics, served as Secretary of Energy under the Obama administration and is currently affiliated with Stanford University.

Carlos Gutierrez's research advances telecommunications and microelectronics.