vol. vii winter 2002-03 physics alum dies in columbia disaster vii.pdf · vol. vii winter 2002-03...

Vol. VII Winter 2002-03

Physics Alum Dies in Columbia Disaster

Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson

Anderson weightless inside Endeavourin 1998, holding a Creighton pennant.

Astronaut Lt. Col. Michael P.Anderson, 43, died with hissix fellow crew members on

Saturday morning, February 1,2003, when the space shuttleColumbia disintegrated during re-entry after a 16-day mission.Anderson was the mission’s pay-load commander, responsible formanagement of the scientificexperiments aboard Columbia.His wife, Sandra, and daughtersKaycee, 9, and Sydney, 13, werein Florida to greet the shuttlewhen the tragedy occurred.

Col. Anderson was born onChristmas Day, 1959, in Platts-burgh, NY. He graduated fromCheney High School in Cheney,WA, in 1977 and earned hisBachelor’s degree in Physics andAstronomy from the University ofWashington in 1981.

In 1990 Michael earned hisMaster’s degree in Physics fromCreighton University. He workedon the degree while stationed atOffutt Air Force Base where he

piloted the “Looking Glass” plane,SAC’s Airborne Command Post.

Dr. Michael Cherney hadAnderson in his high-energynuclear physics course. Cherneysaid, “Although he was verybright, he was never the personwho lorded it over people. He wasa team player who wanted to seethat everyone succeeded.”

In 1994 Michael achieved hisdream when he was selected byNASA for the space program. He told his research advisor, Fr. Thomas McShane, S.J., thatNASA scientists were intrigued bythe brain wave analysis he haddone for his master’s research.

Anderson had one previousspace flight, a journey in January1998 to the Russian Mir SpaceStation aboard the space shuttleEndeavour. He guided the dockingof Endeavour with Mir andbecame the first African Americanaboard the Space Station.

After his trip to Mir, Michaelvisited Creighton to give a publiclecture on his experience and toaccept the 1998 Alumni Merit

Award from the Graduate School.He used the occasion to presentthe University and the PhysicsDepartment with items he hadtaken into orbit, including aCreighton pennant (see photo atlower left) and a spectroscope eye-piece from the Creighton Observa-tory telescope, used by Fr. WilliamF. Rigge, S.J., and others, includ-ing many Creighton students. Asthey examined the universe withthe spectroscope, they could nothave imagined that it would oneday orbit the Earth, taken thereby a Creighton alum!

Michael frequently spoke togroups of young people, as whenhe visited students at Omaha’sJesuit Middle School, mostlyAfrican Americans, studying forentry into a college preparatorycurriculum. He was and will con-tinue to be a role model for chil-dren–a beautiful person–a hero.

Creighton has established aphysics scholarship in honor ofAstronaut Michael P. Anderson.His two children will receive freetuition, should they decide toattend Creighton University.

Four members of the Columbia creware seen here during the mission thatended in tragedy. Front: Anderson(left) with David Brown; Rear: KalpanaChawla (left) with Israeli Ilan Ramon.

2 Physics Newsletter ● Creighton University

Since the last issue of thePhysics Newsletter, eighteennew graduates have joined

our family of physics alums. Thisincludes two years of graduatingclasses, from May 2001 throughDecember 2002.

In the graduating classes ofMay, August, and December of2001, there were a total of elevenphysics bachelor's degree recipi-ents: Leandro S. Anit, Jr. fromOmaha, Nebraska who has beenaccepted by the University ofNebraska School of Medicine forentry in the Fall of 2003; ZulmaX. Barrios from Omaha,Nebraska who is a student at theCreighton School of Medicine;Jmi L. Bassett from Kahalu’u,Hawaii who is a student at theHarvard School of Dentistry;Christopher M. Bowen fromOmaha, Nebraska who is studyingfor a master’s degree in physicson a Teaching Fellowship atCreighton; James R. Fiedler fromScranton, Iowa who planned topursue a doctoral program inmathematics at the University ofIowa; Brian P. Hill from Papillion,Nebraska who is studying for his

master’s degree in physics on aTeaching Fellowship at Creighton;Charles R. Hollman from Rock-ford, Illinois who is a medical stu-dent at Midwestern University inChicago; Almira Koentjoro fromIndonesia; Harpreet S. Parmarfrom Lodi, California who is a stu-dent at the University of NebraskaSchool of Medicine; Murray M.Thompson from Pierre, SouthDakota who is a student at theCreighton School of Dentistry;and LeAnne (Lewis) Tiede fromGrand Island, Nebraska who isstudying for her master’s degreein physics at Creighton.

In the graduating class of May2002, there were six physicsbachelor’s degree recipients:Alejandro U. Lopez fromColorado Springs, Colorado whoplanned to gain some entry-levelexperience in engineering beforepursuing a master’s degree;James Pham from Papillion,Nebraska who is applying to med-ical schools for entry in the fall of2003; Sarah C. Stapleton fromDenver, Colorado who received aFellowship to the University ofColorado at Boulder where she is

pursuing a Ph.D. in civil engineer-ing with a specialization in hydro-logical resources; Megan K.(Schreiner) Toney from Pocatello,Idaho who has been accepted toLaw School in Chicago where sheplans to begin her studies in thefall of 2003; David L. Wannerfrom Bismarck, North Dakota whois applying to the North DakotaSchool of Medicine for entry in thefall of 2003; and Jan-Peter Weissfrom Bad Zwischeuahu, Germanywho is working toward a Ph.D. inaerospace engineering at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulderwhere he received a Fellowshipand a Teaching Assistantship.

In this reporting period therewas one master's degree recipient,Joshua R. Stephenson fromMuskogee, Oklahoma. Joshuagraduated in August 2002. Histhesis research on "TrappingEfficiency and Stability of theOptical Stretcher" was done underthe direction of Dr. Michael G.Nichols. Joshua held a PhysicsTeaching Fellowship at Creighton.He currently is employed as ahealth physicist with the JaegerCorporation in Omaha.

2002 Graduates: (from left) Lopez, Toney, Pham, Weiss, Stapleton, Wanner (wearing his invisibility cloak), and Stephenson. Photo taken during the Evening of Reflection at the home of Dr. Mike Cherney on April 28.

Family of Physics Alums Continues to Grow Eighteen New Graduates

3Physics Newsletter ● Creighton University

The last Physics Newsletterannounced groundbreakingfor a six-story structure con-

necting Rigge Science and theCriss health sciences buildings.We are happy to report that con-struction is almost finished.Physics faculty, teaching fellowsand staff began moving into theirnew offices during the Christmasholidays. Classes are being heldin the building this semester.

The new space occupied bythe Physics Department is on theground floor near the mainentrance to the building. Housedon this floor are physics facultyand department offices, a large

New Science Complex Nearing Completionclubroom, a studyarea, and a tieredphysics lectureroom seating 66students. The lec-ture room has anadjoining preproom which ismuch more spa-cious than whatwe had previouslyfor storing and set-ting up physicslecture demonstra-tions.

Space occupiedby the PhysicsDepartment in theRigge Science building will beretained for physics use. Much ofit will be remodeled. Most remod-eling is scheduled for the sum-mer. Additional physics laborato-ries will be added on the Riggeground floor, taking advantage ofspace freed up by moving theoffices and lecture room to thenew building. More space will beavailable for physics use on thelower level of Rigge when the cen-tral heat exchange equipment istransferred to the new building.

At the connection between thenew building and Rigge, a loungearea will be provided to promoteinteraction and collegiality amongour students and faculty. Manyother improvements in Rigge arebeing planned.

A dedication and naming cere-mony for the new facility will takeplace later this year. Be sure tostop by for a visit when you’re inthe area. We would be delightedto give you a tour, or feel free tobrowse around on your own.

Rev. Edward A. Sharp, S.J., Dies at 80

On Saturday afternoon, May19, 2001, Father EdwardA. Sharp, S.J., a member

of the Jesuit community atCreighton University, died at theage of 80. Many of our physicsalums will remember Fr. Sharpsince he taught mathematics atCreighton for 34 years, from 1957to 1991, and was the firstDirector of Creighton’s ComputerCenter.

On December 6, 2001, theDepartment of Mathematics andComputer Science dedicated theSharp Conference Room to hismemory. A memorial plaqueinstalled at that time reads as fol-lows.

"Fr. Sharp was the pioneeringspirit behind the computer age at

Creighton. He acquired and, onhis own, learned to operate andprogram the first computer oncampus, an IBM 1130, whichoccupied two rooms, coded dataon punch cards, and had lessthan 60 kilobytes of memory.With the advent of computercourses, he taught programmingand set up the first computer lab.Creighton is indebted to his lead-ership in this field.”

The Mass of Christian Burialfor Fr. Sharp was on Tuesday,May 22, at St. John Church.Burial was at Holy SepulchreCemetery in Omaha. The homilygiven by Fr. Larry Flannigan, S.J.may be found at: http://magis.creighton.edu/cujesuits/inmemoriam/sharp.html.

Fr. Sharp

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pioneering spirit behind the computer age at Creighton

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Physics Newsletter ispublished periodically by theCreighton University Department of Physics.Editor is:

Thomas H. Zepf, Ph.D.Physics departmentCreighton University 2500 California PlazaOmaha, NE [email protected] Voice: (402) 280-2134Fax: (402) 280-2140


After 40 years of service toCreighton University,Thomas H. Zepf retired at

the end of the 2001-2002 aca-demic year. His accomplishmentsare numerous and significant. Hecame to Creighton as an AssistantProfessor of Physics in 1962 aftercompleting his doctoral researchat Saint Louis University. For atotal of 23 years, primarilyfrom1963-73 and 1981-1993, heserved as chairman of the PhysicsDepartment. Due to his foresightand dedication, the period start-ing with his arrival became thewellspring of the PhysicsDepartment as we know it today.

In his first semester of teach-ing at Creighton, Tom started thePhysics Club. In May of 1963 theClub sponsored a Physics OpenHouse for High School Students.This evolved into the annualPhysics Field Day that hasbecome a tradition at Creighton.Later, in 1981, he founded theCreighton University Chapter ofSigma Pi Sigma, the NationalPhysics Honor Society.

By the end of 1964 Tom had

rewritten the physics coursedescriptions and designed theBachelor of Science in Physicsdegree. Known as the professionaldegree, it has an undergraduateresearch requirement and morehours in physics than the stan-dard bachelor’s degree. He direct-ed the research project of the firststudent to complete the degree.

During the mid-1960s, whilePhysics was still housed in theAdministration Building, Tom wasable to get additional space forlabs and some renovation of theexisting space. Also, he collabo-rated with faculty members in the Education Department on

obtaining grants fromthe National ScienceFoundation (NSF) toconduct five teacher-training institutes.The grants fundedSummer and In-Service Institutes inPhysics and PhysicalScience for schoolteachers from acrossthe country. Amongthese was the firstHarvard ProjectPhysics Institutefunded by NSF.During that sameperiod of time, Tomchaired the commit-tee that designed thePhysics Department’s

part of the Rigge Science Building.The Building opened in the springof 1968. Some 30 years later, hehelped to design the physics facil-ities of the new Science Centercurrently under construction.

While the Rigge ScienceBuilding was in the developmentstage, Tom wrote several success-ful grant proposals to NSF andother agencies, resulting in thefunding of scientific equipmentneeded for the new physics teach-

ing and research labs. Similarly,in the mid-1990s, Tom coordinat-ed the Physics Department’s suc-cessful Kresge Grant proposal forscientific teaching and researchequipment as part of Creighton’sSuccess in Science Initiative.

When the Rigge ScienceBuilding opened in 1968, Tomstarted Creighton’s Master ofScience degree in Physics and hedirected the thesis research of thefirst student to complete the pro-gram. In all, he has directed themaster’s research of 22 students,including 16 on the Plan A track.Four of these students have com-pleted a Ph.D. Two others are cur-rently enrolled in Ph.D. programs.

Between his terms as Chair ofthe Physics Department, Tomserved for a year as Coordinatorof Allied Health Programs for theCollege of Arts and Sciences, filledin for a semester as Assistant tothe Dean of the College, and forsix years chaired the Pre-HealthSciences Advisory Committee,serving as the chief health profes-sions advisor for the College.

In all, Tom has served on over30 committees at Creighton andhas consulted or been affiliatedwith more than two dozen civic oreducational groups.

Tom’s early research was inthe field of surface physics. Hiswork confirmed theoretically pre-dicted quantum interferenceeffects in electron emission frommetals. Since the early 1980s, heand his students have done pureand applied research in solidstate physics and laser optics,supported in part by grants fromControl Data Corporation and the3M Foundation. Most recently heobtained grants from the U.S.Department of Commerce thatenabled four undergraduatephysics majors to participate inresearch at the National Institute

Dr. Zepf isshown here

during thePhysics Open

House forHigh SchoolStudents in

his first yearof teaching at

Creighton.

May 1963photo by

Bazil Lazure.

After 40 Years of Teaching and Service . . .

Dr. Tom Zepf RetiresBy Sam Cipolla

At the President’s Convocation on February 12, 2002, Dr. Tom Zepfwas promoted to the rank of Professor Emeritus of Physics. The

Convocation took place in St. John’s Church. Fr. John P. Schlegel, S.J.,President of Creighton University, presided. A citation read by the Deanof the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Timothy R. Austin, says in part:


Department Hosts TwoRetirement Receptions

Two retirement receptionswere held to honor Dr. Zepf’scareer and his promotion to

Professor Emeritus of Physics. OnMay 3, 2002, the Union PacificRoom was the site of a very wellattended all-University reception.An engraved plaque from thephysics faculty and staff was pre-sented to Dr. Zepf in appreciationof his dedicated service and inspi-ration to the Department. On May10, a Physics Department dinnerreception was held in the SkuttStudent Center. In addition to thePhysics faculty, staff, and theirspouses, there were alumni andformer faculty in attendance.

Alumni at the dinner includedMorris Pongratz, Ph.D. (BS ’64),a member of the first class thatDr. Zepf taught in 1962; DavidBruening, Ph.D. (BS ’66), firstrecipient of the BS in Physics(professional degree) which wasstarted by Dr. Zepf in 1964;

Zepf Promoted to Professor Emeritus

Fr. Schlegelcongratulating

Dr. Zepf on his

promotion toProfessor

Emeritus of Physics

of Standards and Technology inGaithersburg, Maryland. Two ofthe students (see page 6) workedin the laboratory of William D.Phillips, 1997 Nobel Laureate inPhysics. All have gone on to pur-sue post-baccalaureate study.

Tom was promoted toProfessor of Physics in 1975. Hewas a recipient of the University’sDistinguished Faculty ServiceAward in 1987, and the Dean’sAward for Excellence in Teachingin 1997. At the President’sConvocation on February 12,2002, he was promoted toProfessor Emeritus of Physics.

During his “retirement” Tomplans to continue his professionalservice activities which includechairing the Physics Section ofthe Nebraska Academy ofSciences, serving as a physicsjudge for the Metro OmahaScience and Engineering Fair andas a consultant to the Science

Center of the Omaha Children’sMuseum. On the national scene,Tom continues to serve as a mem-ber of the American Association ofPhysics Teachers’ Committee onScience Education for the Public.

Tom is well known for the useof physics demonstrations in histeaching. His Light, Color, andLasers course is wondrously builtaround exciting and marvelousoptical demonstrations. EveryHalloween the entire Creightoncommunity is regaled by hisHaunted Physics Laboratoryextravaganza, a maze of electricaland optical phenomena featuringthe infamous "department head,"a living, talking human headwithout a body! During theHoliday Season he does a LaserLight Show choreographed to theChristmas music of MannheimSteamroller.

Tom is also in demand as amagician. His knowledge of the-

atrical magic led him to develop apresentation on critical thinkingconcerning psychic phenomenaand ESP that he has done numer-ous times over the past 25 yearsfor groups of all ages, but espe-cially for Freshman Seminar stu-dents at Creighton. More recentlyhe has been doing workshops on"Teaching Physics with Magic"and “Mysteries from the HauntedPhysics Lab” at national andregional meetings of the AmericanAssociation of Physics Teachers.

Even though Tom is nowretired, we are fortunate that hewill remain an active participantin department affairs and serve asan important resource for theCreighton community. Some ofhis immediate plans includetravel, work on family genealogy,community service, writing a "howto" book on the use of magic inteaching physics and, last but notleast, continuing to serve asEditor of the Physics Newsletter.

(Continued on Page 6)

Dr. Zepf Retires . . . continued

“Tom was chairman of the Department of Physics for an amazing 23years. Throughout his career, he has worked energetically to build thatdepartment––its facilities, equipment and faculty resources––and to linkit with the scientific community in the state and at the national level.”


Nobel Laureate Lectures at Creighton

Dr. Phillipsis seen witha “Levitron”he used todemonstratemagneticconfinementduring hislecture atCreightonUniversity.

Frank Nowak (BS ’70) with hiswife; Fr. Michael Liebl, O.S.B.(BS ’74); Randy Blessing (MS ’94)with his fiancée; and Jeff Gross(MS ’95, BS ’93). Former facultyincluded Fr. John Wymelenberg,S.J. (physics), Mr. Bazil Lazure(physics) with his wife Gerry, Dr.Michael Davies (physics) and hiswife, Dr. Marcia Davies (chem-istry), and Dr. Derek Fuller(mathematics).

Fr. Tom McShane, S.J. gavethe Invocation. Dr. Sam Cipollapresented Dr. Zepf with a bookletof remembrances from over fiftyformer students and colleagues.He was also presented with theFr. Clarence M. Wagener, S.J.Distinguished Service Award byDr. Robert Kennedy, DepartmentChair. Dr. Zepf himself presentednew faculty member, Dr. DavidSidebottom, with our GeneralPhysics textbook as a token of"transfer of position" (or "transferof power" as the book is quiteheavy). For a finale, Dr. Zepf nar-rated a slide show of his first tenyears at Creighton, bringing backmemories for many in attendance.

(Continued from Page 5)

Faculty Family Grows ... and GrowsMeet Eric and Timothy, youngest members of our faculty family!

Eric is the son of Dr.Janet Seger, AssociateChair of Physics, and

her husband Steve. Eric wasborn on April 22, 2002. Helikes to sleep soundly so he’llbe ready for action when he’sawake. Eric’s vivacious 3-year-old sister, Sophia, loveshaving her little brotheraround to look after.

Timothy is the son ofDr. Mike Nichols, andhis wife Jennifer.

Timothy was born on Nov.29, 2001. His curiosity isgrowing with each passingday, not unlike that of 6-year-old Joshua who looksforward to exploring theworld with his little brotherin the years ahead.

The Creighton Physics Department was host to ajoint meeting of the Nebraska and Iowa Sectionsof the American Association of Physics Teachers

on November 3, 2001. Our keynote speaker wasWilliam D. Phillips, a researcher in ultra-low temper-ature atomic physics at the National Institute ofStandards and Technology (NIST).

Dr. Phillips is a recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prizein Physics which he shared with Steven Chu andClaude Cohen-Tannoudji for work they did independ-ently on the development of methods to cool and trapatoms with laser light.

Two of our physics alums, Jennifer Sebby(BSPhy ‘99) and Alicia (Dwyer) Cianciolo (BSPhy‘99), had the experience of working at NIST in thelaboratory of Dr. Phillips while they were Creightonundergraduates. They had the opportunity to observefirst hand his passion for physics and the genuinelygood person that he is. His visit to Creighton gave usthat same opportunity as we heard "The Story ofLaser Cooling and Trapping" from one of those whowrote the story!


Students Build Lasers for Biophysics ResearchThe Biophysical Optics

Laboratory and ResearchProgram continue to grow

under guidance of Dr. Michael G.Nichols, Assistant Professor ofPhysics. Three major projects arecurrently underway in which bothundergraduate and graduate stu-dents are quite active.

Development of a ConfocalLaser Scanning Microscope

After three years of work bymany Creighton undergraduates,beginning with the initial layoutby Greg Kubicek (BS ‘00), SadiqZaman (BS ‘00) and HarpreetParmar (BS ‘01), and ending withthe final design primarily due toDave Wanner (BS ‘02), the teamwas able to get its first confocalimages of fluorescent samplesduring the spring and summer of2002. The design uses a pair ofgalvanometer mirrors to rasterscan a laser beam across a biolog-ical sample (such as a monolayercell culture, or a multicell tumorspheroid). The laser beam isfocused to a diffraction-limitedspot in the focal plane of a highnumerical aperture objective. Theresulting fluorescence is detectedby an array of optically filteredphotomultiplier tubes that areread simultaneously by a fastA/D card. All of the functions ofthe microscope are controlled by aLabview user interface. At thetime of this writing, the team wasin the process of characterizingthe microscope and hoped to havesome nice images to show for thework before the end of year 2002.

Design and Construction of aFemtosecond Ti:S Laser

A Titanium Sapphire Oscil-lator is being designed and builtas a source of femtosecond laserpulses tunable in the near infra-red from 730 nm to 900 nm. Thedesign is loosely based on that ofDrs. Murane and Kapteyn, thoughthe crystal holder and several

other optical components havebeen fabricated in-house. AlokShagal, a senior, and Megan(Schreiner) Tony (BS ‘02) workedextensively on this project. Meganwas able to get the Ti:S to laseand, among other things, wasable to measure the tuning curveand noise of the laser. This proj-ect was supported by funds from

a Success in Science (SIS)Initiative grant and then receiveda major upgrade in conjunctionwith the Nebraska LB692 fundingof the "Optical Stretcher" projectdescribed below.

Optical Damage of CellsTrapped in an OpticalStretcher

In the winter of 2001 we werefortunate to receive fundingthrough Nebraska LB692 to buildan optical stretcher at CreightonUniversity, a collaborationbetween the Physics Departmentand the Department of BiomedicalScience (Dr. Rick Hallworth, PI).Like optical tweezers, the stretch-er is a laser-based device used tomanipulate individual, living, bio-

logical cells. But in addition totrapping the cell with the laser,soft deformable dielectrics areactually stretched due to momen-tum exchange with photons. Eachof the three investigators associat-ed with this grant has a specificproject. The Physics team hopesto be able to determine the opti-mal stretching configuration that

will minimize damage to cellstrapped in the stretcher. The mas-ter’s thesis research of JoshuaStephenson (MS ‘02) focused onthe stability of the trap as a func-tion of cell size as well as the dis-tribution of optical stresses placedon a cell in this device. He pre-sented some of this work at theApril 2002 Meeting of theAmerican Physical Society inAlbuquerque, NM. The master’sthesis research of LeAnn (Lewis)Tiede (BS ‘01) is also focused onthis issue of near infrared photo-damage.

For a complete list of the stu-dents involved in various aspectsof these projects see: http://physicsweb.creighton.edu/faculty/mnichols/UGResearch.htm

Dr. Nichols (Left) is shown in the Biophysics Research Laboratory withsenior Alok Shagal (center) and Megan (Schreiner) Tony (BS ‘02).


Meet the Newest Members of Our Faculty

Dr. Ha (right) next to his wife, Ha, and children (from left) Bi, Ni, and Zi.Photo taken at Hanscom Park during the Physics Club picnic in August.

Dr. Sidebottom with his wife, Lane,and their two dogs,

Sassy (left) and Max.

Dr. Phuoc Dai Ha joinedour faculty in the fallsemester of 2001 to fill a

temporary position as AssistantProfessor of Physics. Dr. Hareceived his BS degree in physicsfrom the University of Hue,Vietnam. He holds an MS degreein Electrical and ComputerEngineering and a Ph.D. inTheoretical Physics, both from theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.For about eight years he was aresearcher in the Institute ofTheoretical Physics at theNational Center for Science andTechnology in Hanoi, Vietnam,and for about two years at theJoint Institute for NuclearResearch, Dubna, MoscowDistrict, Russia. His researchencompasses computationalphysics and theoretical high ener-gy nuclear physics, includingBaryon Magnetic Moments andBaryon Masses in QCD.

Dr. Ha and his wife, Ha, whohas taught high school physics,are proud parents of three veryactive children. Their oldest son,Bi, is 17 and their daughter, Ni, is14. They both attend Omaha’sWestside High School. Theiryoungest son, Zi, is 6. Zi enjoyskeeping the family occupied whenhe’s not attending Paddock RoadElementary School in Omaha.

Dr. David L. Sidebottomjoined our faculty in the fall of2002 to fill a tenure-track posi-tion as Assistant Professor of

Physics. After receiving degreesfrom Kansas State University, hespent two years as a postdoc inGothenburg, Sweden. Mostrecently he was employed as aresearch professor at theUniversity of New Mexico. Hispast research activities have dealtprimarily with the study of slowdynamical processes in glass-forming materials and transportof ions in disordered materials.He classifies himself as a chemi-cal physicist, but believes the title"material scientist" is also suit-able. His current interests includefundamental features of the glasstransition and ionic relaxation inamorphous materials.

Dr. Sidebottom and his wife,Lane, celebrated their first year ofmarriage in July. Lane is a physi-cal therapist who specializes inworking with clients having cogni-tive disorders. She hails fromsouthern California. Dave is fromnortheast Kansas. They moved toOmaha from Albuquerque wherethey both resided for about 10years. Several pets accompaniedthem, which Dr. Sidebottomdescribes as: "Sassafras (Sassy) a10-year-old female yellow lab whodemands attention; Max, an 11-year-old Australian shepard whois good natured and beginning toslow down; Harley, a 4-year-oldfemale calico who is tactilelydefensive; and lastly, Madeline, a22-year-old paint mare who iscurrently boarding at a stablesouth of town."

Dr. Sidebottom’s hobbiesinclude music (trumpet andbanjo), glassworking and bike rid-ing. Lane enjoys cross-countryskiing and horseback riding.

They know the appropriateresponse to the question: "Red orgreen?" i.e., "What variety of chilepepper sauce (common in NewMexico) do you wish to have onyour enchilada?"

and/or served as a secretary formany of them.

At the College level, he wasChair of the Physics Departmentfrom 1974 to 1981, and is servingagain in that capacity since 1993,guiding our department’s transi-tion to a new era in the ScienceCenter. As pointed out at the Artsand Sciences award ceremony, a

During Founders Week 2003Dr. Robert E. Kennedy,Associate Professor and

Chair of Physics, received twoawards for outstanding service toCreighton University, comple-menting the Saint Ignatius Awardfor Service to Others he receivedduring Founders Week 2000!

Dr. Kennedy’s most recenthonors came onFebruary 4th. Atthe 17th AnnualFaculty Luncheon,he received theCollege of Arts andSciences’ Profes-sional ServiceAward. Later, atthe President’sConvocation in St.John’s Church, hereceived theUniversity’s Distinguished FacultyService Award.

Since joining our faculty in1966, Dr. Kennedy has con-tributed as a member of nearlyevery College and University com-mittee, and he has chaired

Dr. Sam Cipolla, Director ofour Physics GraduateProgram since 1981, visit-

ed with alum Mike Lopez (BS ‘98)in May 2002 at the University ofMichigan in Ann Arbor whereMike is a research assistant work-ing toward a Ph.D. in NuclearEngineering. Dr. Cipolla was thereto present a paper at the TenthSymposium on RadiationMeasurements and Applications.

After graciously treating himto dinner, Mike and his wife,Shannon, took Dr. Cipolla on atour of the Intense Energy BeamInteraction Laboratory where Mikeis doing his research. In a follow-up email to Dr. Cipolla, Mikedescribes his work as follows.

"My research is in the genera-tion of high power microwaves.We use a microsecond electronbeam accelerator to generate

1GHz microwaves at powers upto 300MW. We are looking at thephysics that causes themicrowave pulses to prematurelyturn off. These include lookingat plasma, magnetic field, elec-tron beam, cathode, and powercoupling behaviors of the mag-netron tube." ––Mike says hewould be happy to field yourquestions about graduate studyat the University of Michigan.

Cipolla Meets With Former Student in Ann Arbor

Since the last Newsletter, tennew full-time students wereadmitted to our physics

graduate program, each support-ed by a Teaching Fellowship or aResearch Assistantship. Sixentered in the fall of 2001, two inspring 2002 and two in fall 2002.

Four of the students receivedbachelors degrees in physics fromCreighton: Chris Bowen (BS ‘01),LeAnn (Lewis) Tiede (BS ‘01),Steve Gronstal (BS ‘00), andBrian Hill (BS ‘01).

Renan Cabrera received hisundergraduate degree from theUniversidad Mayor de San Andresin La Paz, Bolivia and NilanthiWarnasooriya from the Universityof Colombo, Sri Lanka. Closer tohome, Sarah Parks received herdegree from Loras College inDubuque, Iowa, Jennifer Reedand Chris Barajas from theUniversity of Nebraska at Omaha,and Justin Morehead fromHastings College, Hastings, Nebr.

We are pleased to be able toprovide these fine students withfinancial support to enable themto pursue their graduate study inphysics at Creighton University.

Physics Graduate ProgramAdmits Ten New Students

Physics Newsletter ● Creighton University 9

Bonnie KelleyUndergoes Surgery

On May 1, 2002, our depart-ment secretary for overtwenty-five years, Bonnie

Kelley, underwent major surgery.The procedure went well, but acomplication required additionalsurgery and a long recuperation.As a result Bonnie says she “lostsome weight–a good thing–but itwas a tough way to do it.” Afterreturning to work, on a reducedschedule while regaining strength,she came down with pneumonia.

Bonnie wants everyone toknow how grateful she is for themany prayers and expressions ofsupport and encouragement thatshe has received. Join with us inpraying for her full recovery.

Kennedy Receives Service Awards

Mike Lopez with Dr. Cipolla in Ann Arbor

Dr. Kennedy

award sponsors noted that, asFaculty President, Dr. Kennedy“single-handedly reformed Benefitsat Creighton...”

Students and faculty alikecontinue to benefit from his dedi-cated service.

list of his servicecontributions to theCollege would requireseveral pages.

The same can besaid of his service atthe University level. As an example, Bobwas President of theUniversity Facultyfrom 1978 to 1979and again from 1988to 1990. One of his

Erin Noteboom Bow (BS ’95)wrote to update her address and“catch us up a bit.” Erin and herhusband James are living inKitchener, Ontario where they hadjust bought their first home. Herhealth is good now after a boutwith chemotherapy that led to herdropping out of graduate school.She’s happy to be able to focus onher marriage, her spiritual life,and her writing. She is Managerof Professional EducationPrograms at the University ofWaterloo in Ontario. She writes:“We offer part-time graduatediplomas in computer science,

Paul F. Alexander (BSPhy ’82)and his family visited with Dr.Zepf during the President’sAnnual Alumni Picnic in June.Paul returned to Omaha to cele-brate his 20-year class reunionduring Reunion Weekend 2002.

Paul was accompanied by his wifeDenise and their children Rebeccaand Ian. After graduating fromCreighton, Paul worked on radiocommunications research anddevelopment for the Departmentof Defense in Washington, D.C.He and Denise were married in1988. In 1990 he took a job withInmarsat in London, England,working on mobile satellite com-munications systems. The familymoved to Potomac, Maryland in1997. Currently Paul is withAiria, Inc., a company whose goalis to provide live TV to aircraftpassengers in flight.

degree, Dave stayed on to be ourlaboratory manager. He was theperson largely responsible forreplacing pocket calculators withdesktop computers (Apple IIe’s) inthe physics teaching labs. He wasalso a popular teacher of ourIntroductory Astronomy course.Dave left Creighton to become amember of the engineering staff atKitt Peak National Observatory.He and his wife Pat have a son,Zachary, and daughter, Amanda.They reside in Tucson, Arizona.

Christopher J. Kennedy,Ph.D. (BSPhy ’86), managed tomaneuver his way through a closeencounter with power lines buthit the ground much too hardwhile sky diving near ColoradoSprings, CO. The accidentoccurred on December 9, 2001.Chris spent a month hospitalizedwith numerous broken bones.This was followed by a two-monthstay for mending at the home ofhis sister Erin, a medical doctorspecializing in plastic surgery.Erin lives in Dubuque, Iowa withher husband Peter, a seven-year-old son, three-year-old-twindaughters, and a one-year-olddaughter. Chris and Erin are twoof the five children of Mary andDr. Bob Kennedy, Chair of thePhysics Department. Chris is athome now in Colorado Springs, ingood shape and back to work full-time with AT&T. He plans eventu-ally to sky dive one more time!Chris got his Ph.D. in particlephysics at Notre Dame, followedby a postdoctoral appointment atYale University.

Mark J. Wickham (BSPhy ’87)has been working for Motorola inChina for the past several years.He stopped by the physics depart-ment in October 2001 while on areturn visit to the States. Markhas learned to speak Mandarin.He manages 200 software engi-neers, all Chinese, who don’tspeak English! He’s very gratefulfor his physics major and broadliberal education from Creighton.


Gerald P. Hart, Ph.D.(BS ’63) retired from thephysics faculty of the

Minnesota State University atMoorhead in December 1999.Jerry was one of three seniorphysics majors in Dr. Zepf’s firstyear of teaching at Creighton. Theothers were Gerald T. Schneider(BS ’63), who’s retirement wasreported in the last Newsletter,and Richard E. Keating (BS ’63).Jerry chaired the physics depart-ment at Moorhead from 1975-79and again for the last two yearsbefore his retirement. He and acolleague established MSU’s phys-ical science program for elemen-tary education majors which nowhas an enrollment of 240 stu-dents a year! Jerry says he “par-ticularly remembers takingHalliday and Resnick physicsfrom Fr. Wagener and his dailyquizzes, which proved to be a veryeffective learning tool.” Uponretirement Jerry and his wifeYvonne moved to Cortez, Coloradoand built a home on a piece ofwhat was once the farm ofYvonne’s parents. Both are heavi-ly involved in volunteer work inthe community. Travel, reading,greenhouse gardening, and ama-teur radio help to keep him busy.

Arthur G. Bucknell (BSPhy’67) is feeling well following suc-cessful brain surgery in 1996.During periodic check-ups, he’snot offended when his doctors tellhim that he has an empty head.Most recently Art has been work-ing in home services, from repairsto testing and home inspections.He said his physics backgroundhas served him well. He hopesthat his nephew who is attendingCreighton and good at math willcome to see how math blooms inthe study of physics.

David B. Jaksha (MS ’77, BS’74) stays in touch, especially withour laboratory manager, BobStoffel, who was the physics shoptechnician when Dave was here.After completing his master’s

More News About Our Graduates . . .

Alexander Family at the Alumni Picnic


optics and photonics, healthinformatics, organizational com-munication, and others.” Eringoes on to say that Creightonphysics taught her “…to see therelations between the simple andthe complicated, to learn from try-ing, to reach beyond what is with-in reach. It’s done a lot for me,”she says. “In fact, it’s probablysaved my life.” More recently weheard through the grapevine thatErin has received almost $30,000in grants and is working on man-uscripts for two books, one poetryand one physics. She has hadpoems published in several distin-guished journals and her piece,“Poems for Carl Hruska,” receiveda Canadian Literary Award!

Julienne M. Hill, Ph.D. (BS‘95) received her doctorate in con-densed matter physics at IowaState University in December2002. She received early fame asa physicist at Creighton when herphoto as the Haunted Physics Lab“Department Head” appeared inThe Omaha World Herald.

Erin D. Underwood, DO (BS’96) was awarded the Doctor ofOsteopathic Medicine degree incommencement exercises on June1, 2001 at the Des MoinesOsteopathic Medical Center. InJuly he started his residency inanesthesiology at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s MedicalCenter in Chicago.

Peter R. Colarco, Ph.D. (MS’97) finished his doctorate inAtmospheric Sciences at theUniversity of Colorado in June2002. He writes: “My thesis workwas on modeling transport andradiative properties of Saharandust storms. Pretty cool stuff.”Pete is now working in the NASAGoddard Space Flight Center’sAtmospheric Chemistry branch.

Jeffrey D. McClure (MS ’97)sent an email in October ‘02 withan update on his activities. Jeff isemployed by Battelle, which hascontracted him out to the Dept. ofEnergy. He works on the design

for the Pit Disassembly andConversion Facility in Savannah,Georgia. Jeff says he would behappy to assist our graduate stu-dents who are seeking employ-ment by getting them in touchwith the right people at Battelle.

Quinn M. Jones (MS ’98,BSPhy ’94) emailed to say he lefthis job with Data TransmissionNetwork in Omaha to take a posi-tion in May 2002 as AssociateVice President of Mid-AmericaAgency Services Software andSystem Development. Quinn hasfond memories of Fr. Wagener,mostly humorous, stemming fromhis student days at Creighton.

Alicia M. Dwyer (BSPhy ’99)and Matthew J. Cianciolo (BSMP’98) were married on SaturdayJuly 6, 2002 in a beautiful cere-mony at St. Boniface CatholicChurch in Alicia’s hometown ofElgin, Nebraska. Physics friends

attending the wedding includedPaul Nienkamp (MS ’99), JenniSebby (BSPhy ’99), Bob Strabley(MS ’99) and Dr. Tom Zepf. Aliciais an Aerospace Engineer workingon Mars missions at the NASALangley Research Center inHampton, Virginia. She receivedher Master’s Degree from GeorgeWashington University in July2001. Her research was on model-ing the Mars atmosphere.

Recently Alicia was honored

. . . Achieving Satisfaction in Diverse Careers

Alicia and Matt riding off in the rumbleseat of their Model A Chariot.

during National Engineering Week(Feb. 16-22, 2003) as one of 16young people representing "thenew generation of engineers whoare turning ideas into reality."The sixteen were nominated forthis recognition by their employ-ers and professional societies. Thestory, with a photo of Alicia,appeared in the February 17issue of USA Today.

Matt is in the fourth year ofhis medical studies at theUniversity of Health Sciences inKansas City. He will graduate inMay with a Doctor of OsteopathicMedicine degree. Alicia and Mattcelebrated Thanksgiving togetherin Greely, Colorado where Mattwas doing a family practice rota-tion. After his graduation in Maythey are hoping he will be able toget into a residency program neartheir home in Virginia.

Matthew J. Szymczak (MS‘98, BSPhy ’96) and his wife,Melanie, are the proud parents oftwo beautiful boys, Maxwell andMason. (Five M.S.’s in one family!–Ed.) Melanie gave birth to Maxon May 6, 2002. His older brotherMason was born on October 1,1999. Matt is employed byNational Indemnity in Omaha,where John Stahl (MS ‘97) andDan Pongratz (BS ‘96) are alsoemployed.

Paul K. Nienkamp (MS ’99) isa Graduate Teaching Assistant inthe Department of History at IowaState University where he is work-ing on a Ph.D. in the History ofScience.

Jennifer S. Sebby (BSPhy ’99)is a Graduate Research Fellow inthe Department of Physics at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison.Jenni presented a physics semi-nar at Creighton on her doctoralresearch entitled “Laser CoolingBasics, Spatial HeterodyneImaging, and the Quest for a BoseEinstein Condensate.”

(Continued on Page 12)


(Continued from Page 11)

Productive Year for High Energy Research Group

Creighton’s High EnergyNuclear Physics ResearchGroup had a uniquely pro-

ductive year with nine publica-tions. The group has grown to 3faculty members, an adjunct fac-ulty member, a post-doc, 4 gradu-ate students and 4 undergraduatestudents. Financial support forthe research comes from theDepartment of Energy. The grantwas renewed in July at the levelof $535,000 over the next 3 years(Dr. Michael G. Cherney, P.I.).Operation of and analysis of data

from the STAR experiment atBrookhaven National Laboratoryon Long Island continues. STAR is an international collaboration of400 physicists. Dr. Janet Segerdirects the experiment's studies ofthe ultra-peripheral nuclear colli-sions. She gave an invited talk inPrague on particles produced inthe large fields in the cases wherenuclei just miss each other. Janethas been assisted by seniorRebecca Redding and graduate

student Nilanthi Warnasooriya.Rebecca, post-doc DennisReichhold and summer studentJoe Byrne gave presentations atthe APS-DNP meeting in Maui. Dr.Reichhold has recently carried outa measurement of the size ofexcited nuclear matter in heavyion collisions using kaon interfer-ometry. Dr. Cherney, who coordi-nates the hardware control for theexperiment, gave an invited pres-entation at CERN on the STARcontrols system. Graduate stu-dent Sarah Parks is working on

the identification of excitedcharmed mesons in proton-protoncollisions. She attended the STARcollaboration meeting and QuarkMatter conference in Nantes alongwith Fr. Thomas McShane, S.J.and Dr. Cherney. Graduate stu-dent Steven Gronstal (BS ’00)has been working on the controlsystem for the photon calorime-ters. Fr. McShane and Steve spentthe fall semester working atBrookhaven. The group has

recently become involved in theplanning for the development of aphoton calorimeter for the ALICEexperiment at the EuropeanCenter for Particle Physics(CERN). Former Creighton stu-dent Dylan Thein (BS ‘00) joinedthe STAR collaboration for hisdissertation work at UCLA andformer student Marguerite Belt-Tonjes (BSPhy ’94) completed herPh.D. dissertation on STAR data.Graduate student Renan Cabreraspent the spring semester of 2002doing computer simulations atLawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory under the direction ofDr. Iwona Sakrejda. Dr. Cherneyhas also been working on thecontrols system for ALICE.

Creighton physics majors, Peter Dudley (left) and David Lynch, areshown inspecting the cooling system for the magnet coils of the STARDetector at Brookhaven. The main coils carry 4500 amps at 575 volts!

Robert J. Strabley (MS ’99) isan officer in the United StatesNavy. Bob completed Nuclear Power School and NuclearPrototype training that he says qualifies him “to supervise, main-tain, and operate the Navy’snuclear reactors.” After that heattended the Surface WarfareOfficer School in Newport, RIwhere he “learned how to be asailor (navigation, seamanship,administration, damage control,etc.)” In November 2001 he wasassigned to the USS Harry S.Truman CVN 75, the Navy’snewest aircraft carrier.

Steven K. Brady (MS ’00) andwife, Sharon, recently announceda baby is on the way. Sharon isfrom Malaysia. They met at anInternational Students dinner inSt. Louis where Steve is pursuinga Ph.D. in physics at WashingtonUniversity. Steve is currentlyusing nuclear magnetic resonancespectroscopy to study the absorp-tion of hydrogen/deuterium intopalladium metal. He says he isenjoying his work and counts thatas “another incredible blessingalong with the strong love he andSharon have for each other.”

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