Noah Finkelstein

Noah Finkelstein
BornJuly 1968 (1968-07) (age 56)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materYale University (B.S.)
Princeton University (PhD)
AwardsNSF CAREER Award (2005)
Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Teaching (2007)
Diversity in Excellence Award (2009, 2011)
Graduate School Award for Mentoring (2010)
Outreach Award (2011, 2012, 2015)
President's Teaching Scholar (2012)
ΣΠΣ Outstanding Physics Professor (2014)
Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador (2014)
Fellow, Am. Assoc. for Advancement of Science (2021)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversity of California, San Diego
High Tech High Charter School
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
University of Colorado Boulder

Noah David Finkelstein (born July 1968) is a professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.[1] He is a founding co-director of the Colorado Center for STEM Learning, a President’s Teaching Scholar, and the inaugural Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador.[2][3][4] His research focuses on physics education and on developing models of context, the scope of which involves students, departments, and institutional scales of transformation.[5][6][7] In 2010, Finkelstein testified to the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology on how to strengthen undergraduate and postgraduate STEM education.[8][9][10]

Education

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Finkelstein graduated at Yale University with a magna cum laude degree in mathematics in 1990. He obtained a Ph.D. in applied physics from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in 1998.[7]

Career

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Finkelstein was a postdoctoral fellow in physics education research under Professor Michael Cole at the University of California, San Diego, and under Professor Andrea diSessa at the University of California, Berkeley (1998–2001). He was a research fellow at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, a lecturer in physics and in teacher education (1999–2002), and a physics teacher at High Tech High School (2002–2003). Finkelstein served as a research consultant at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (2002–2004). In 2003, Finkelstein joined the University of Colorado Boulder as an assistant professor of physics. He was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and to full professor in 2012.[7] Finkelstein is a technical advisor at the Association of American Universities Education Initiative, a founding board member of the PER Topical Group, and a trustee of the Higher Learning Commission. He was elected fellow of American Physical Society in 2011[11] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2021. His primary focus is in physics education research.[12]

Personal life

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Finkelstein’s mother Edith B. Gelles is a senior scholar of gender studies at Stanford University. His father is professor emeritus of mathematics at UC Irvine, and his brother Adam is a professor of computer science at Princeton University.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Google Scholar: Noah Finkelstein". scholar.google.com. Google Scholar. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "2013 APS Conference Chair" (PDF). aps.org. American Physical Society. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  3. ^ Anas, Brittney (March 22, 2012). "Two CU-Boulder Profs Designated 'President's Teaching Scholars': Noah Finkelstein, Harihar Rajaram Receive Honors". Dailycamera.com. Daily Camera. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  4. ^ Dedrick, Jay (March 4, 2015). "Finkelstein named CU's first Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador: Professor will promote discussion of education in state schools, communities". CU.edu. University of Colorado.
  5. ^ Stripling, Jack (October 9, 2009). "Half-Learned Lessons: Ten years after the National Center for Academic Transformation began course redesigns, early adopters applaud learning outcomes but remain ambivalent about the cost reduction". insidehighered.com. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved December 20, 2015. Noah Finkelstein, an associate professor of physics and lead advocate of learning assistants at Colorado, says the program has changed the conversation that faculty have with their best and brightest students. Promising students who would once have been steered away from K-12 teaching now see the teaching profession actively promoted by faculty, he says.
  6. ^ "Building a Thriving Undergraduate Physics Program Invited Speakers: Noah D. Finkelstein, University of Colorado-Boulder". phystec.org. Physics Teacher Education. June 11, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Noah Finkelstein: Biography" (PDF). spot.colorado.edu. University of Colorado Boulder. June 2, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  8. ^ Gardner, Marilyn (January 28, 2010). "AAPT Member, Noah Finkelstein, to Testify at Congressional Hearing". Physics Today. American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/PT.4.1343. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  9. ^ "Bill Summary & Status 111th Congress (2009–2010) H.R.5116 Major Congressional Actions". thomas.loc.gov. Library of Congress. April 22, 2010. Archived from the original on October 3, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  10. ^ "Physics professor set to testify before Congress on value of STEM: CU-Boulder's Finkelstein to stress need for education funding". cusys.edu. University of Colorado. February 3, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  11. ^ "APS Fellow Archive: F". aps.org. American Physical Society. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  12. ^ Mervis, Jeffrey (October 12, 2010). "NSF Graduate Fellowships Now Recognize STEM Education as Valid Research Field". sciencemag.com. Science. Retrieved December 20, 2015. Noah Finkelstein, a physicist who conducts physics education research in a highly lauded program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, calls the change "a big positive move." Until now, he says, NSF "required folks to get their Ph.D.s in one of the traditional disciplines." The new designation, he adds, recognizes that STEM education is "an important, legitimate pursuit for graduate research and for the portfolio of activities that NSF and scientists are responsible for."
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