December, 2007

Greetings Alums,

Welcome to our annual holiday newsletter. We sincerely appreciate all of your responses and it gives us great pleasure and joy to follow the many paths you have taken. We again had an excellent response rate and we hope you enjoy hearing about everyone as much as we have.

I would like to give you a brief update on the department. If has been a very sad time this fall due to the death of Warren Ringlien. Warren was the instrument maker in our department for the last 31 years. Warren's dedication to student learning was evident throughout his time at Carleton. His creativity and passion for inventing were shown in his work with the Robot Team, ENTS, the wind turbine, and many other projects. Over the last few years all physics majors were instructed on machining skills by Warren as part of the Contemporary Experimental Physics class. The departmental picnic was always fun experience because of Warren's lefsa, model airplanes, and kubb game. He was proud of being the oldest current Carleton employee at 74 years old, showing no signs of slowing down until his illness began this fall. We will all dearly miss our friend and colleague.

Some very good news came to us in the summer when we heard that Kris Wedding had a baby girl, Haley. We all wish Kris, Jeff and Haley the best. Kris is still on leave for this academic year in the Bar Area, in California.
The department has been pleased to have Marty Baylor with us for fall and winter terms. Marty finished up her PhD in physics this last summer from the University of Colorado. Her specialty is optics, and as such taught classical and quantum optics this fall. She has also developed a laboratory section for optics, and this will take place this winter. We are thrilled with all of the exciting interest in optics that Marty has generated here.

We have a strong senior class of sixteen majors and a junior class of twenty-seven! About half of the seniors are planning to go to graduate school in physics or astronomy, a few to other graduate or professional schools, and the rest out into the real world. We are, of course very concerned about the employment opportunities for physics majors, and we encourage our students to get a broad base of experiences here at Carleton and during the summers that will help them in latter years. We appreciate all the help you alums have given our majors over the years in terms of advice and even leads toward jobs. You are a wonderful resource to have!

Again, thank you for your responses and have a fantastic and wonderful year ahead. And do stop by the department if you are in the area. It’s always great seeing you and catching up on what you have been doing.

Nelson Christensen
Chair