SPRING EVENTS
Making an Impact: Guilford College’s Physics Reunion BY K AREN ALLEY
IN MARCH, ALUMNI, STUDENTS and
robotics, Biology and Physics and showing what machine
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learning can do to help us solve all sorts of problems.” In anticipation of the
Physics Reunion, March 27-28, 2020
reunion, Guilford talked with William and Don about their thoughts on Physics, a liberal arts education and the Guilford experience.
professors associated with the Physics
GC: What do you feel is one of the things
Department will converge on campus
that makes Guilford College unique?
for the bi-annual Physics Reunion,
Don: For me, it’s the Quaker heritage.
which is a chance for students to
I believe Quakerism is a faith that
present their research and get a glimpse
focuses on the journey more than the
of how a degree or classes in physics can
destination. There’s a very strong
lead to a multitude of careers.
synergy in figuring out where I am in
It’s also an opportunity for alumni to
the universe as a physical being and
reconnect with colleagues and former
where I am in the universe as a spiritual
professors and learn about the impact of
being. Here at Guilford College I can
philanthropic support on the experience
honor that, with me and my students.
of current Guilford students.
William: One of the most important
“As a student at Guilford College, the
things I got out of my years at Guilford
physics reunions were one of the most
was the relationships and the focus on
important experiences I had, meeting
the human endeavor. You didn’t just
alumni and hearing about their work,”
take a class with a professor, you got to
says William Hahn ’08. “They were at
know them and work alongside them in
NASA, in labs at Chapel Hill, at national
research. It was extraordinary to have
labs doing medical physics -- changing
their faith in us that we would go out
the world in 100 different directions.”
and change the world.
At the reunion, William will give the 18th Sheridan A. Simon Distinguished Alumni Lecture, funded by the philanthropy of Sheridan’s family and friends. An Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Florida Atlantic University, William is founder and codirector of the Machine Perception and Cognitive Robotics Laboratory. “William is doing really exciting interdisciplinary work at FAU, and has created a very hands-on, interactive, student-centered research lab,” says Donald Smith, Associate Professor of Physics. “The reunion is the perfect opportunity for him to share with others his innovative way of bringing together 2 6 | W W W. G U I L F O R D . E D U
R I G H T: D O N S M I T H , A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R OF PHYSICS; BELOW: WILLIAM HAHN '08 AND O T H E R P H Y S I C S A L U M N I AT T E N D T H E 2 0 1 8 PHYSICS REUNION
GC: Why is Physics an integral part of a liberal arts education?
Don: There’s a long history of science and math being
part of the liberal arts. It’s all a part of figuring out who we are as human beings (humanities) and figuring out our part in the world (sciences).
William: One thing that really made an impression on me was in a Physics class the professor read a poem written by Richard Feynman, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. I realized these physicists I was studying were more than just two-dimensional scientists, they had all the passions and desires that I had. It really opened my eyes that there could be physicist humanitarians. I believe that in a nutshell is the goal of a liberal arts education, to help us learn to be well-rounded, thoughtful and compassionate human beings.
