Contact Information
Department of Physics525 Northwestern Avenue
West Lafayette, IN
47907-2036
Map and Directions
Telephone:
(765) 494-2970
Fax:
(765) 494-0706
The Purdue Department of Physics is proud to have been associated with a large number of quality scientists over nearly a century as students, faculty or staff. Among them are such illustrious people as Julian S. Schwinger (Purdue faculty in 1940's, Nobel Prize 1965) and Ben Roy Mottelson (BS Purdue 1947, Nobel Prize 1975).
These pages are intended as both a tribute to our alums as well as an inspiration to our students. Here you will find our stories about our Distinguished Alumni, reports of recent alumni events, and the results of an alumni survey. The survey was designed to provide a link between our alums and our students. If you have not contributed to the survey, we encourage you to do so. Be sure to come back often to keep up to date on Purdue Physics Alumni.
2012 Distinguished Science Alumni Award
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- BS 1964, Purdue University, Physics
- MS 1967, University of California, Los Angeles, Astronomy
- PhD 1969, University of California, Los Angeles, Astronomy
- MAS 1987, Johns Hopkins University, Management
David Leckrone is a veteran space astronomer and a leading expert on orbiting astronomical observatories. Beginning in 1969, he
worked on the first orbiting astronomical observatories leading studies on potential astronomical payloads for the Space Shuttle
program. From 1976 to his retirement in 2009, Dr. Leckrone participated in the Space Telescope Program (now known as the Hubble
Space Telescope), becoming Senior Project Scientist in 1992. In this role, he acted as the chief advocate for the Hubble’s
scientific objectives and served as scientific lead for the five Space Shuttle missions that serviced Hubble from 1993-2009.
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2011 Outstanding Alumni Award
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- PhD '78, Purdue University, Physics
- BS '70, Morehead State University, Physics & Mathematics
Charles Beetz earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 1978, then worked for General Motors Research Laboratories, eventually
rising to Principal Research Scientist and Section Manager for Materials Physics. He left GMRL to form a series of startup
companies. In 2008 he co-founded ZoomEssence, Inc., where he serves as Chief Scientist. Dr. Beetz also owns and operates Rose
Hill Farm Winery with his wife, Virginia.
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- PhD '96, Purdue University, Physics
- BS '87, Kansas State University, Physics
Penny Warren earned her Ph.D. in Physics in 1996, then worked as a Research Physicist in the Optical Sciences Division of the
Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. She is now Detector Area Functional Manager and Principal Detector Engineer at Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, where she has worked since 2002. Penny and her spouse, Eric Johnson, reside in Boulder, CO.
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