The University of Colorado, Boulder presents
CU Wizards

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Prof. David Nesbitt, Program Director – “Chemistry in the Kitchen!”

Senior Wizard David Nesbitt has been with the CU Wizards Show for almost 20 years. Professor Nesbitt is the current chair of the JILA Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he teaches and conducts groundbreaking research on the behavior of the molecular world and mentors up and coming new scientists. He is especially interested in laser spectroscopy and the kinetics of biomolecular and nanoparticle systems. To learn more about Professor Nesbitt’s research, visit http://jilawww.colorado.edu/~djn

Prof. Janet De Grazia – “Go With the Flow!”

Professor and CU Wizard Janet De Grazia presents the “Go With the Flow” show at CU Wizards. She is a senior instructor in the University’s Department of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering. Main research focuses include engineering education for children and how to improve instruction. She is the director of outreach for the integrated teaching and learning lab and named the “Professor Who Makes A Difference,” in Mechanical Engineering, 2000. Professor De Grazia was awarded the Sullivan-Carlson Innovation for Teaching award in 1999.

Prof. Brian Agrow – “Go With the Flow!”

Professor Agrow has also presented “Go With the Flow” with Professor De Grazia. He is an Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at CU Boulder. He is a President’s Teaching Scholar and is a member of the NASA Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology Advisory Council. Professor Agrow conducts fluids research.

Prof. Noel Clark – “Liquid Crystals!”

Professor Noel Clark, along with Professor David Walba has presented the “Liquid Crystals” show here at CU Wizards. Prof. Clark teaches Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. Clark conducts research with the Liquid Crystals Group and his work is directed towards understanding and using the properties of condensed phases. His research ranges from experiments on the fundamental physics of phase transitions, such as melting, to the development of liquid crystal electro-optic light valves. For more information about the Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Research Center, visit their Web site at http://flcmrc.colorado.edu

Prof. David M. Walba – “Liquid Crystals!”

Professor Walba is the other half of the liquid crystals team. He teaches chemical and biological engineering as well as chemistry and biochemistry at CU Boulder. He is both a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Walba leads the Walba Group at CU, which focuses on organic stereochemistry in the context of liquid crystal science and technology. For more information about the Walba Group, visit the Web site at http://walba.colorado.edu

Prof. Margaret Murnane – “Lasers and Light!”

Professor Murnane is one of the CU Wizards that leads the “Lasers and Light” show. She is a fellow here at JILA in the Department of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineerin, and is a NIST senior research scientist. Professor Murnane has been the recipient of the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society in 1997 and was a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow in 2000. She co-leads the Kapteyn/Murnane Research Group with Professor Henry C. Kapteyn.

Prof. Henry C. Kapteyn – “Lasers and Light!”

Professor Kapteyn teams with Professor Murnane to bring you the “Lasers and Light” show at CU Wizards. Professor Kapteyn is also a fellow at JILA and instructor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has won several awards, including a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award in 1992 and the Adolph Lomb Medal from the Optical Society of America in 1993. Professor Kapteyn is co-lead on the Kapteyn/Murnane Research Group, which integrates research from the areas of atomic & molecular physics, chemical physics, materials physics, chemistry and optical physics. This group is dedicated to understanding the use of electromagnetic radiation, including the application of laser and x-ray sources. For additional information, visit the Web site, http://jila.www.colorado.edu/kmgroup/index.htm

Prof. Thomas Cech – “Chemistry of Life!”

Professor Thomas Cech is a distinguished professor and director of the Cech Laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Professor Cech has won several awards, including the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Sidney Altman of Yale for their independent work with the catalytic properties of RNA. To learn more about Professor Cech, visit his Web site at http://cechlab.colorado.edu

Prof. Casey Hynes – “Chemistry: Pow! Wow!” and “H2O!”

Professor James T. “Casey” Hynes teaches chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has won several awards, including the ACS Hildebrand Award in Theory and Experiment of Liquids in 2005. His work focuses on the theory of chemical reactions in solutions and at interfaces, and the theory of vibrational flow from and in molecules in solution. To learn more about Prof. Hynes’s research, visit his Web site at http://www.colorado.edu/chem/DEC/people/hynesj.html

Prof. Jim Faller – “Physics of Sports!”

Professor Jim Faller is an Adjoint Professor at JILA. He has received several awards, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1973 and the Arnold O. Beckman Award of the Instrument Society of America in 1970. Professor Faller’s research interests include geophysics, experimental relativity, precision measurement, and null experiments.

Prof. Kathy Rowlen – “Chemistry of Light!”

Professor Rowlen teaches chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has won several awards, including the Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award from 1991-1993 and the National Science Foundation Career Award from 1995-1998. Professor Rowlen’s research focuses on bioanalytical chemistry, sprectroscopy and nanotechnology.

Prof. Eric Cornell – “Speed!”

Professor Eric Cornell is a JILA fellow and research physicist and fellow of NIST who teaches Physics here at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor Cornell won the Nobel Prize for physics in 2001 for his work on the Creation of the Bose-Einstein Condensate (1995). He is the principle investigator of the Cornell Group, researching primarily atomic and molecular physics, precision measurement, the Bose-Einstein Condensate and extremely cold atomic gases.

Prof. Paul Beale – “Clocks and Time!”

Professor Paul D. Beale is a professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has won several awards, including the Boulder Faculty Assembly in Teaching Award in 2004. Professor Beale’s research interests include theoretical condensed matter physics. To find out more about his research, visit his Web site at http://spot.colorado.edu/~beale

Prof. John Taylor – “How Things Move!”

Professor Taylor started the CU Wizards show in 1979 and is a retired professor of physics for the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has received several research and teaching awards, including the Hazel Barnes Prize in 1999 (the highest award at CU for recognition of research and teaching) and an Emmy Award for his work on the KCNC physics television series, Physics 4Fun, from 1988-1990.

More Wizard Profiles to Come!

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For further information please contact Erin Costello djnadmin@jila.colorado.edu 303-492-5011