My name is Peter G. Halverson. The G is for Georges, my grandfather, who was French.
I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, went to college at New York University and then at the University of Arizona (Tucson), where I got my Ph.D. in Physics.
Students sometimes ask if getting a PhD is worth the trouble. (It took me seven years, after I graduated from NYU). The reasons for getting a Ph.D. are to qualify for the two most interesting jobs in the world: research and teaching. (It also helps with regard to the salary.) Yes, it was worth it, and doing the research to get the Ph.D. was fun.
My career has had its twists and turns. I’ve lived in mountain top observatories chasing cosmic rays (radiation from outer space), spent many days underground looking for neutrinos (radiation from exploding stars). I even had a hand in Nobel Prize winning research! My previous job was at NASA where projects tend to take time. But if the spacecraft to find gravitational waves ever takes off, it will be carrying technology that I helped invent.
Students also ask “Why did you become a high school teacher?” The answer is that I always wanted to teach. In fact, at NASA I was often the one to teach new hires how to do things in the lab. I became a high school teacher to make my dream of really teaching come true. I should mention that I looked into teaching at the college level, but there are too many excellent candidates for those jobs. It is high schools that really need good teachers.
Enjoy my web page and check out the Moodle site. You may enter using the username guest1, and pw Zz12345!
---Peter H.
Thank you Jordan for this wonderful article! You really made my day.