Lawrence D. Woolf is a materials physicist and engineering manager in the Reconnassiance Systems Group at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.. He received a Ph.D. in low temperature condensed matter physics from the University of California, San Diego in 1980 and an BA in physics from Rutgers College in 1975. After a post-doctoral appointment at the Exxon Corporate Research Science Laboratory, Woolf joined General Atomics (GA) in 1982. At GA, he has been involved in the development of thin film materials, high temperature ceramic superconducting wire, electromagnetic turbulence control components, nuclear thermionic energy conversion, high temperature electrical insulators, thermophotovoltaic energy conversion, electronic properties of graphite fibers, and neutron transmutation doping of silicon. He has been project manager and lead scientist for over 35 programs involving the design, development, and production of a variety of advanced materials.
He is the author or co-author
of 71
scientific publications in the area of materials physics and energy
conversion systems, has given 36 scientific presentations, and holds 22
patents. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and is a Fellow
of the American Physical Society. He received the 2004 San Diego Science
Alliance Partner of the Year Award and is President and Chairman of the
Board of the General Atomics Sciences
Education Foundation.
Woolf has been a member of 5
Department of Energy review panels, twice as chairman, and 10 National
Science Foundation review panels. He chaired the 2002
Committee of Visitors (COV) Review Panel for the NSF Instructional
Materials Development Program, served on the 2005 COV panel, and the 2005
Expert Panel on the Future of the NSF Division of Elementary, Secondary,
and Informal Education. He was on the steering and writing
committees of the Workshop on the Future of Materials Science and Materials
Engineering Education. He has performed site reviews on behalf of NSF
for the following programs: GEMS
Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading; SRI
Nanosense Program (2005-2007); and chaired the site review of the National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering.
Woolf served on the executive committee of the American Physical
Society (APS) Forum on Education (FEd) from 2004-2007 as a Member at
Large. He is currently Past Chair (and Chair of the Fellowship Committee)
of the FEd, having previously served as Chair of the FEd, as Chair Elect
(and Chair of the Program Committee), and as Vice-Chair (and Chair of the
Nominating Committee). He was
a member of the APS
Committee on Education from 2009-2011. He co-edited the Summer 2006 and edited the Summer 2007 and Summer 2008 FEd newsletters. He co-organized 2 FEd sponsored invited
sessions on undergraduate materials physics education for the
2008 APS March meeting and organized an invited session on preparing physics students for careers in industry for the 2009 APS March meeting. At the March 2010 APS meeting, he
presented a tutorial on Physics Careers in Government Contracting: Defense
and Energy and organized a session on Science Literacy, the Nature of Science and Religion.
At the April 2011 APS meeting, he participated in a panel
on student careers in physics, and organized an invited session on Educating
and Exciting the Public about Physics. Woolf was recently selected to be the
APS representative to the US
Physics Team Advisory Board.
Woolf is actively involved in
education outreach activities at GA for grades K-12. He developed the following education modules: It's a
Colorful Life; Seeing the Light: The Physics and Materials Science of the
Incandescent Light Bulb; Line of Resistance: Using a Graphite Pencil to
Explore the Electrical Properties of Materials and Circuits; Staying
Alive: The Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering of Safe Driving; and The
Seasons: A Tale of the Sun, Earth, and Two Cities. He was one of the
co-developers of the Exploration of Materials Science and Chromatics: The
Science of Color modules. He has also developed education modules on
electric energy bills, the Color of Ice, and the scientific research
paper.
He has given over 100 workshops to
teachers and students and is one of the developers of the PISCES project to involve college
science students and scientists to improve science instruction in elementary
school classrooms. Woolf has developed numerous educational materials
and posters, particularly in the area of color theory. He was
curriculum advisor/technical reviewer for the Lawrence Hall of Science
FOSS middle school modules on Electronics as well as Force
and Motion. Woolf was a curriculum advisor/technical reviewer for all
3 years of the BSCS
Science: An Inquiry Approach high school program. He is on the
advisory board of Across the Sciences, a multimedia professional
development series for high school teachers. Woolf has also played an
active role in trying to improve California state
science education standards, framework, and instructional materials
selection.
Woolf enjoys hiking, running, walking, reading, and playing with his grandchildren. He also enjoyed his experience as an extra on the Big Bang Theory TV show and hopes for more to come.
He created and updates this GA Sciences Education Foundation
web site and can be reached at Larry.Woolf@gat.com.
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