Associate Professor of Physics

B.S. 1969, University of Scranton

Ph.D. 1977, University of Virginia

Room 102H, Olin Engineering Building
Phone: 757.727.5820
Fax: 757.728.6910

Email: donald.whitney@hamptonu.edu

Research Interests: Science education, Environmental and Atmospheric Science

During the past thirty years, the physics program has graduated from a liberal arts focused undergraduate program (Bachelor of Arts degree) with only three faculty members and only one building (Turner Hall) to a comprehensive, research-based, educational program leading to Masters and Ph.D. degrees.  The enrollment in physics has grown from five undergraduate physics majors and zero graduate students to over twenty undergraduate majors and nearly fifty graduate physics students.  The service load has grown from fewer than eighty students in introductory physics courses to nearly two hundred students each semester.  Students may choose to concentrate in Medical Physics, Nanomaterials, Nuclear/Intermediate High Energy Physics, Optical Physics and Plasma Physics.  The facilities for research have expanded from one room to seven on-campus buildings, Jefferson Laboratory and other laboratories in other countries. The Physics Department now provides rare opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to engage in leading edge research on-campus and in off-campus collaborations with Hampton University.  My colleagues and I have helped to expand the educational opportunities for Hampton University students by engaging in educational outreach programs and by guiding curricular revisions in all the programs listed above. 

My involvement in science education activities include:.  1) participation on the Overview Committee of Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics (C3P) program at the University of Dallas, which has provided collaboration activities with some of the best known educators in physics;  2) reviewing proposals for the Department of Education and textbooks for Addison Wesley-Longman and McGraw-Hill, which has provided additional opportunities to affect science education nationally; 3) participation in the curricular revision process, which has resulted in the development of the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. programs; and  spearheading the Graduate Council, participating on the Committee on the Instructional Program, and Long Range Planning Council, as well as various University Catalog Committees that affect all curricula at Hampton University.  Some examples of my service to students pursuing the various health sciences (medicine, physical therapy and pharmacy) include teaching in the Medical Science program, conducting workshops to review for the MCAT, serving as the Physics professor in MCAT Preparation Program at University of Virginia for two summers, and preparation of test items for the MCAT- Physical Sciences and the ETS NTE-Physics examinations. 

Member:              

• American Association of Physics Teachers
• American Physical Society
• Sigma Pi Sigma
• Sigma Xi-Scientific Research Honor Society
• Virginia Academy of Science – Executive Council and Officer
• Virginia Academy of Science – Astronomy, Mathematics and Physics Section - Officer

Hampton University Service:

• Dean, Graduate College, 2001-2007
• Assistant/Associate Dean, School of Science 1990-97/1997-2001
• Acting Chairman, Dept of Physics, 1993-94 and 1998-2001
• Coordinator: Dual Degree Engineering Program Hampton & ODU (1983-85)
• Visiting Lecturer, Dept of Physics, Univ. of Virginia, 1976-77

Selected Committees:

Analytical Studies Group, Ceremonial Occasions, Graduate Council, Instructional Program, Long Range Planning Council, Steering Committee for Strategic Planning, Steering Committee for Reaffirmation of Accreditation (Chair, Subcommittee on the Undergraduate Program  1986-88 and Chair, Core Requirements 2006-2008), NCAA Athletics Certification Self-Study, University Catalog (Chair 4x).

Comparable Successes:

• Project Director of grant from Sherman Fairchild Foundation for acquisition of introductory science laboratory equipment ($500,000 for 7/96-6/01).
• Activity Coordinator for Department of Education, Title III award for the doctoral program in physics ($854,372 for 8/31/98-7/30/01).
• Co-PI of NASA NAG-1-877 grant to develop mid-infrared solid state laser for lidar applications ($112,568 for 4/88-12/89).
• P.I of Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory Contract to evaluate beneficial applications of beta emitters and model smoke stack radiation treatment ($54,956 for 1984-87).
• Co-PI of NASA NAG 1-87 grant to determine effect of cloud cover on horizontal solar radiation at the ground and use remotely sensed radiometric data and local meteorological and aerosol observations to find ground albedo. ($367,324 for 1980-83)

Publications:

1. Virginia Scientists, Vol. XV, Issue II, December 2004
2. Project Proceedings, Dickinson College June 1990 Summer Seminar, pp. 22-24, 1990.
3. NASA HBCU Space Science and Engineering Research Forum Proceedings, Huntsville, AL, March 1989, Edited by Y. D. Sanders, Y. B. Freeman and M. C. George, pp. 422-7, 1989
4. The Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 35 (4), pp. 231-9, 1984.
5. NASA Contractor Report # 172409, pp.127-130, 1984.
6. Progress in Solar Energy, Vol. 6, pp. 927-932, 1983.
7. Introductory Physics Lab Manual, Contemporary Publishing Co., Raleigh, NC, 226 pp., 1982.
8. Physical Review, B15, pp. 3405-342, 1977.
9. Solid State Commun. 18, pp. 309-312, 1976.
10. The Virginia Journal of Science: Vol. 41 (2), p. 41, 1990; Vol. 40 (2), p. 54 & p. 53, 1989; Vol. 39 (2) p. 147, 1988; Vol. 38 (2) p. 110, 1987; Vol. 37 (2) p. 55, 1986; Vol. 36 (2) p. 104 & p. 81, 1985; Vol. 33 (3) p. 146, 1982.
11. Proceedings of the Fifth Conference on Atmospheric Radiation and Earth Radiation of the American Meteorological Society, Baltimore, MD, November 1983.