George Gollin, Dept. of Physics, UIUC      

I am a professor of physics at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign, teaching Physics 325/326 and doing research in experimental elementary particle physics. During the fall 2008 semester I also co-taught a section of FAA 199 ("Art, Creativity, Diversity") with Professor Eric Benson from the College of Fine and Applied Arts. (Click here to see my Physics 325 lecture notes, and here to see my Physics 326 notes.)

My current research concentrates primarily on technical issues relating to the design and execution of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab. We will search for neutrinoless transitions of muons into electrons in the field of Aluminum nuclei, forbidden in the Standard Model. Because many of the problems to be resolved (particularly concerning the experiment's calibration) require a working knowledge of classical mechanics and electrodynamics, our research projects are well suited to the participation of undergraduate research assistants.

Until recently my research had concentrated on matters relating to the International Linear Collider. As is now true for our Mu2e projects, the work lent itself well to undergraduate participation, in which the students worked as scientists, rather than technicians. But federal funding for the ILC was cut severly in December 2007 and nearly all support for university-based accelerator work towards the ILC was eliminated.

There are organizational issues that are important for the ILC: the complexities of such a large project include matters of international cooperation as well as smooth collaboration between national laboratories and universities. I had been serving as a coordinator for the U.S. university-based ILC accelerator R&D program. See, for example, "Encouraging Greater Engagement by U.S. University Groups With International Linear Collider Accelerator R&D Projects" (114 kB pdf).

As a faculty public service activity I pay attention to problems in higher education oversight and accreditation, in particular as they relate to regulation of unaccredited degree-granting entities. I was elected to the board of directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation in 2006, and reelected to a second term in 2009. In 2009 I was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

Like to see how a particle physicist got interested in the arcana of higher education policy? Take a look at David Wolman's article "Fraud U: Toppling a Bogus-Diploma Empire" in the January 2010 issue of Wired magazine.

See the links in the navigation panel to the left for more information.

Physics:

• On the possible construction of a Mu2e calibration linac built around a spare Project-X or ILC cryomodule, July 25, 2008.

• Thoughts concerning on-orbit injection of calibration electrons through thin-target elastic scattering inside the Mu2e solenoid, January 12, 2009.

Higher education:

• Sometimes, danger lurks in the diploma on the wall, an Op Ed piece that I co-authored with U.S. Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN04). It appeared in the November 26, 2007 Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune.

• "When Criminals Control the Ministry of Education," International Higher Education, 53, pp. 5-6 (Fall 2008).

• "Verification of the integrity and legitimacy of academic credential documents in an international setting," College & University, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers educational policy and research journal Vol. 84 number 4 (Spring 2009).

• "The Real and the Fake: Degree and Diploma Mills," co-authored with Alan Contreras, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning (March-April 2009).

• "Wolves in Chancellors' Clothing," International Higher Education, 55, pp. 7-9 (Spring 2009).

• George on TV! I participated in an August 20, 2008 segment on diploma mills on The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet.
(Click here for the second half of the segment.)

Just for fun:

• Here's something very cool: computer-generated animations of a cell's interior machinery, at various (microscopic) distance scales.