Physics and Astronomy Faculty
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Ph.D. 1955, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Sogo's ADS Abstract Listings (9) are cited here.
Ph.D. 1966, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Dr. Fullerton's ADS Abstract Listings (7) are cited here.
Click here to contact Prof. Hwang
M.S. 1960, Arizona State University
Suk R. Hwang, UHH Professor of Physics, joined the faculty in 1965, and was awarded tenure in 1969. Prof.
Hwang taught virtually every course in the Physics curriculum. For 18 years, he administered and directed the very
successful Student Science Training Program (Hawaii-SSTP) in calculus/physics for gifted high-school juniors across
the U.S. He actively investigated student misconceptions in physics and alternative approaches to physics instruction
other than the lecture format, based on his experience teaching PHYS 115 to non-science majors. This research
was initiated following a 1987-88 sabbatical at the University of Washington as a Visiting Lecturer with the Physics
Education Group headed by Lillian McDermott. Prof. Hwang was the original physics faculty member at UHH and initiated
the program on this campus. He received many federal and state grants (totalling $250,000 since 1974) for the support
of the physics program and/or Hawaii-SSTP. In 1974, Prof. Hwang was awarded a National Science Foundation Faculty
Science Fellowship in the amount of $9,000. With this funding, he went to UH Manoa for a one-year term as a
Visiting Professor of Physics; there, he conceived the idea for Hawaii-SSTP. He has also received Certificates of
Special Commendation from the State House of Representatives (1984), from the Hawaii County Council (1984), and from
the Republic of Korea (1973), as well as merit awards for teaching excellence in 1968 and 1983. He served as Chair
for the Department of Physics and Astronomy during 1990-92. Prof. Hwang retired after the Fall 2000 semester.
Prof. Hwang's Publications and ADS Abstract
Listings (2) are cited here.
Click here to contact Dr. Fox
Ph.D. 1971, New York University
Robert A. Fox, UHH Professor of Physics, joined the faculty in 1971 as a member of the Freshman Integrated
Program, and was awarded tenure in 1975. He obtained his B.S. in Physics, from New York University, in 1964, and his
M.A. and Ph.D., from New York University, in 1971. Professor Fox has taught courses in Astronomy and virtually every
course in the UH Hilo Physics curriculum. He is the originator of Hilo's Physics for the Liberal Arts course. His
wide-ranging interests both inside and outside of Physics have led him to teach courses in the Social Psychology of
Groups, Social Psychology of Leadership and Hawaiian Mediation Training. Dr. Fox served as Chair for the
Department of Physics and Astronomy during 2003-08. Professor Fox's original research interests were in multiphoton
photoionization of neutral alkali beams, which later developed into such diverse areas as positron chemistry and
fish-fin regeneration in alternating electromagnetic fields. Currently, Professor Fox's research interests are divided
into three areas. As part of PISCES (Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems) he provides
management and technical onsite support for a University Center designed to create a support structure for studies
leading to the creation of sustainable human Habitats on Mars and the Moon, with a current funding level of $400,000
per year. As part of the multi-national ASHRA (All-sky Survey High-Resolution Air Shower Detector), he studies
extremely high-energy cosmic radiation by observing both nitrogen fluorescence and Cherenkov radiation. As
co-director of the University of Hawaii Charter School Resource Center, Professor Fox provides training for Charter
Schools pBarent groups and local school Boards, serves directly on the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Academy of
Arts and Sciences Public Charter School, and organizes statewide conferences and workshops. He also conducts research
into charter school issues with particular focus on state law and policy matters (he has 2 publications on these
topics listed in the Web of Science. In total, he is a co-author on 14 publications (6 first author).
Dr. Fox retired in the Fall 2009 semester.
Dr. Fox's ADS Publications and Abstract Listings (12) are cited here.
Click here to contact Dr. Heacox
Ph.D. 1977, University of Hawaii at Manoa
William D. Heacox, UHH Professor of Astronomy, joined the faculty in 1986, and was awarded tenure in 1991.
Dr. Heacox holds advanced degrees in mathematics, physics and astronomy. He has previously held postdoctoral
appointments at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of
Arizona, and Carter Observatory (New Zealand). He also worked as Support Scientist at the University of Hawaii's
telescopes on Mauna Kea for six years before his appointment to the UHH faculty. His teaching responsibilities have
included the following courses: General Astronomy, Principles of Astronomy, Cosmology, Observational Astronomy,
Computational Physics and Astronomy, Stellar/Galactic Astrophysics, Comparative Planetology, Comparative Planetary
Atmospheres, General Physics and Laboratory, Thermodynamics, Optics, Senior Laboratory/Thesis, and Special Topics in
Astrophysics: General Relativity. Dr. Heacox is primarily responsible for inititating the baccalaureate astronomy
program at the UHH campus. He also designed and implemented the physics minor and Earth/Space Science minor programs,
and participated in the design of the Natural Science Major program. Dr. Heacox's current research interests include
the formation and evolution of planetary systems and binary star systems, dynamics of stellar systems, statistical
astronomy, and instrumentation for small telescopes. He has been the recipient of several research, instrumentation,
and training grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and private foundations. He is a member of the
International Astronomical Union, the American Astronomical Society, the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics, and the American Geophysical Union. Dr. Heacox is a combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict, where he flew
more than 200 reconnaissance missions. He served as a smoke jumper in Montana and trained briefly as a space shuttle
mission specialist candidate. He currently engages in more sedentary pursuits. Dr. Heacox served as Chair for
the Department of Physics and Astronomy during 1989-90 and 2002-03. He is a co-author on 49 publications (35 first
author), 15 of them major ones listed in the Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 7.
Dr. Heacox's Publications and ADS Abstract Listings (48) are cited here.
Click here to contact Dr. Crowe
Ph.D. 1984, University of Toronto, Canada
Richard A. Crowe, UHH Professor of Astronomy, joined the faculty in 1987, and was awarded tenure in 1992.
He has been the Astronomer-in-Residence at the `Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai`i since 2006, and has done many
planetarium presentations in that capacity. His teaching responsibilities have ranged from introductory physics and
astronomy to quantum physics, classical mechanics, thermodyamics, electromagnetism, astrophysics, and senior level quantum mechanics. He has developed many
on-line Web assignments and course presentations, including General Astronomy Laboratory,
Comparative Planetology, and Global Climate Change. Dr. Crowe has an
extensive background in observatory support work. Between 1977-79, he worked as the Resident Observer for the
University of Toronto Southern Observatory at Las Campanas, Chile. Following the completion of his Ph.D. in 1984
at the University of Toronto, he
worked for 3 years as a Resident Astronomer for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT).
Dr. Crowe's main research interests are pulsating stars, stellar evolution and spectroscopy. In 1991,
Dr. Crowe was selected as a Fujio Matsuda
Research Fellow by a University-wide committee. He regularly trained UHH student observers with the UH 24-inch
telescope on Mauna Kea, and conducted many research programs on that telescope. In 2005, he won the AstroDay
Excellence in Teaching Award for his efforts. Dr. Crowe was Principal Investigator on the New Opportunities through
Minority Initiatives in Space Science (NOMISS) grant ($675,000) funded by NASA, and a Co-Investigator on the Keaholoa
grant ($2,413,000) funded by the National Science Foundation. These grant programs were designed to encourage local
and Hawaiian students to enter careers in space science by working with K-12 teachers and integrating astronomy with
Polynesian skylore, voyaging, and Hawaiian culture. While doing this, Dr. Crowe delivered over 50 StarLab
presentations in both public and private schools, and participated in formal voyaging canoe (the Wa`a Makali`i)
training. In 2001, Dr. Crowe and Dr. Alice Kawakami won City Bank's TIGR Award in Astronomy for NOMISS community
outreach efforts. In 2002, he completed a revised version of Stars Over Hawai`i, a popular book that
integrates modern astronomy with Hawaiian skylore and navigation. Dr. Crowe served as Chair for the Department of
Physics and Astronomy from 1992-2002, and has been a member of the UHH Sigma Xi Chapter since 1990. For its activities
while he was Chapter President in 1991-92, the UHH Sigma Xi Chapter was awarded the
prestigious Certificate of Excellence by a
National Committee. He also represented UHH at the 1991 Sigma Xi Forum on Global Change and the Human Prospect held in
Washington, D.C., at the 1996 Sigma Xi Forum on Science, Technology and the Global Society held
in San Diego, and at the 1999 Sigma Xi Forum on Reshaping Undergraduate Science Education held
in Minneapolis. Dr. Crowe has delivered many public and school lectures on the subject of astronomy. He is a co-team
leader on the Journey Through the Universe program, and he has been active in publicly promoting science
education and critical thinking, having written 18 Hawaii newspaper articles on these
subjects. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay since 2002, and served as Club President in 2007-08. Dr.
Crowe is also an active amateur musician; he has played clarinet with the Hawaii County Band since 1986, and has been
a member of the UHH Wind Ensemble, the UHH Orchestra, the University Chamber Singers, and the University Chorus. Currently, he sings with
the Kanilehua Chorale. Dr. Crowe also accompanied on piano, acted in, or conducted several musical productions in West
Hawaii, including West Side Story, South Pacific, and
Company. In March, 1992, he performed Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue as a solo pianist
with the Hawaii County Band. He is a co-author on 47 publications (16 first author), 25 of them major ones listed in
the Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 13. Dr. Crowe has also authored 9 articles, 2 of them major
ones listed in the Web of Science, that critique astrology, UFOlogy, Mars "face" claims, and creationism.
Dr. Crowe's Publications and ADS Abstract
Listings (44) are cited here.
Click here to contact Prof. Purves
M.S. 1979, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Norman G. Purves, UHH Instructor of Physics and Astronomy, joined the faculty in the Fall 2000 semester. He
served as a lecturer for the Department of Physics and Astronomy between 1998-2000, and is now a full-time instructor,
in which capacity he supervises the physics and astronomy labs. Following his graduation from the Institute of
Astronomy in 1979, Mr. Purves served as a quality-control technician at Hall Laboratories in Portland, Oregon. In
1984, he was hired as a telescope operator for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea and continued in this
capacity for 12 years. Immediately prior to his employment at UHH, Mr. Purves operated a private tutoring service in
math and science for young people. He is a co-author of 9 publications (3 first author), 4 of them major ones listed
in the Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 3. Prof. Purves's ADS Abstract Listings (9) are cited
here.
Click here to contact Dr. Binder
Ph.D. 1989, Yale University
Philippe Binder, UHH Professor of Physics, joined the faculty in 2001, and was awarded tenire in 2007. Prior
to coming to UHH, he was Associate Professor of Physics at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. He has taught
Physics for the Liberal Arts, Quantum Mechanics for the Liberal Arts, Introductory Physics (calculus and
algebra-based), Introductory Experimental Physics, General Astronomy Lab, Modern Physics, Classical Mechanics,
Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics I and II, Chaos, Mathematical Physics, Computational Physics and
Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. He obtained his Ph.D. from Yale, and has worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory,
the University of Oxford, and the Santa Fe Institute. Dr. Binder is a referee for Chaos, the Physical Review and the
American Journal of Physics. He has biographies in Who's Who in American Science and Engineering, Who's Who in America
and Who's Who in the World. Prof. Binder was selected as Scholar at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, in
Santa Barbara, California, for the period 2006-09. Dr. Binder's research broadly addresses three loosely related
themes. The first is the analysis of realistic time series in search for chaos and with view to predicting and
understanding natural phenomena. The second is the study of information as one of the possibly most fundamental
currencies in nature. The third is the search for a general origin to the phenomena known as complex systems. This
work actively involves undergraduate students. During the fall semester of 2008, Dr. Binder took a sabbatical at the
Center for Nonlinear Dynamics at the University of Texas, Austin, performing experiments on electro-convection with
Harry Swinney. Dr. Binder was appointed Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Spring 2009. In addition,
he was honored with the annual UH Hilo Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities. He has been an amateur
field geologist in the Urubamba river in Peru, and a volunteer Park Ranger at El Tuparro National Park in the
Colombia/Venezuela border. He has hiked and camped in the Himalayas, the Alps, the Sierra Madre, the Andes, Death
Valley, the Maze district, and the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. He is also a certified rescue scuba diver and
underwater naturalist. He is a co-author of 60 publications (44 first author), 54 of them major ones listed in the
Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 10.
Dr. Binder's ADS Abstract Listings (60) are cited
here.
Click here to contact Prof. Hamilton
M.S. 1980, University of Hawaii at Manoa
John C. Hamilton, UHH Instructor of Physics and Astronomy, joined the faculty in the Fall 2004 semester. He grew up in Hawai'i, and was a graduate of Aiea High School on
O'ahu. He then went to the mainland and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an Honors B.S. in Physics and an Honors B.A. in Astronomy. John returned to Hawai`i
and finished his graduate work at UH Manoa with an M.S. in Astronomy. For 26 years, John worked on Mauna Kea at several observatories: NASA IRTF-3.0m, Canada-France Hawai'i-3.6m,
and Gemini-8.0m. John's areas of interest are galaxies & cosmology, neutrino particle physics, and asteroids. John is currently the Research Operations Manager for PISCES (Pacific
International Space Center for Exploration Systems) involved in analog site testing for future lunar and Martian robots and habitation modules.
He is a co-author of 6 publications (2 first author).
Prof. Hamilton's ADS Abstract Listings (2) are cited here.
Click here to contact Dr. Takamiya
Ph.D. 1998, University of Chicago
Marianne Takamiya, UHH Assistant Professor of Astronomy, joined the faculty in the Fall 2009 semester. Marianne comes from Chile where she obtained her
B.Sc. in Physics. She earned her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from The University of Chicago and came to Hilo in 1998 as one of the first Gemini Science Fellows. She is a
mother of two children and wife of an astronomer. She studies the evolution of galaxies and star formation in galaxies near and far.
She is a co-author of 49 publications (18 first author), 17 of them major ones listed in the Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 9.
Dr. Takamiya's ADS Abstract Listings (49) are cited here.
Click here to contact Dr. James
Ph.D. 1997, University of Birmingham, England
David J. James, UHH Assistant Professor of Astronomy, joined the faculty in the Fall 2009 semester. He is also the director of the new Hoku Kea 0.9-meter
telescope, located atop Mauna Kea. He gained a Bachelor's degree in Physics (with Astrophysics) from the University of London [UK] in 1992, and was awarded his Ph.D. in
Astrophysics from the University of Birmingham [UK] in 1997. His research directives are centered around the evolution of rotation rate and lithium content of sun-like stars in
young open clusters, like the Pleiades [M 45] and the Hyades, both in the constellation of Taurus. A burning question is to understand how stars like the Sun end up rotating so
slowly! Lithium is important because in stars, it is destroyed over time by being convected down to deep interior layers, where at temperatures greater than 2.5 million degrees
nuclear fusion transforms it into other elements. If we study how lithium content changes with age, we can understand how convective mixing (like water or soup boiling in a heated
pot) affects the inside of Sun-like stars. Away from the celestial ballet, David can be found on local golf courses trying to improve his putting, unfortunately without success! He
also has an ardent interest in languages: is fluent in French and conversant in Spanish. He is currently taking Hawaiian language lessons. He is a co-author on 82 publications (9 first author), 36
of them major ones listed in the Web of Science, with a Hirsch citation index of 15.
Dr. James's ADS Abstract Listings (82) are cited here.
Richard Crowe (rcrowe@hubble.uhh.hawaii.edu)