Summer 2019

Crimson Laureate Society


Summer '19 C.L.S. Update


Thank you for your continued support of the Crimson Laureate Society. Our community of alumni and friends has now surpassed 1,000 members! We encourage all alumni, students, and friends to join.

The new issue of Notebook magazine is now available. Look for it in your mailbox or browse the PDF here. Notebook tells the stories of the students, alumni, faculty and supporters who make up the College of Science.

Donations to the Crimson Laureate Society enable deserving science students to make their education a reality. Most gifts made to the College of Science are under $1,000. But together they add up to millions for financial aid, academics, research, and other programs. Together we can make a difference. Recently, many donors have doubled the impact of their investments by using employer matching programs. In these cases, employers will match the gift dollar-for-dollar, doubling the donation.

For more information on Crimson Laureate Society membership and College of Science alumni events, contact Jeff Martin at martin@science.utah.edu.

Alumni Stories

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New Physics

A decision to take a physics class for “fun” During her senior year at New York University changed the Course of Pearl Sandick’s life. At the time, Sandick was majoring In math and had planned to continue her studies in a Ph.D. Program. “The professor noticed that I was enjoying the physics Class and suggested that I think about a physics graduate program Instead of math,” said Sandick, associate professor of physics and Astronomy and associate chair of the U’s Department of Physics & Astronomy. “I was floored—no professor had ever directly Encouraged me like that before—and she had a good point: I did Enjoy physics. After some serious conversations with my mom and My professors, I decided to make the switch. The encouragement of one professor literally made all the difference.”

She earned a Ph.D. From the University of Minnesota in 2008 and Was a postdoctoral fellow in the Theory Group at the University of Texas at Austin before moving to Utah and the U in 2011.

Beyond the Standard Model

As a theoretical particle physicist, Sandick is able to study some of the largest and smallest things in the universe. Dark matter Is the mysterious stuff that gravitationally binds galaxies and Clusters of galaxies together, but despite large-scale evidence for the existence of dark matter, there are compelling arguments that Dark matter might actually be a new type of elementary particle. Some particles are composite, like protons and neutrons. Electrons Are an example of an elementary particle—they are the most Fundamental building blocks of their type and are not composed of other particles. Other examples of elementary particles include Quarks, neutrinos, and photons.

The Standard Model of Particle Physics is the theory that explains how all the elementary particles interact with each other and combine to form composite objects like protons and neutrons. Pearl Sandick 7 The Standard Model can make amazingly accurate predictions, which are tested in collider experiments and with cosmological observations, but the theory has some shortcomings that make particle physicists think there must be something beyond the Standard Model. For example, the Standard Model does not include a satisfactory explanation for the dark matter in the universe. Sandick’s research, currently supported by the National Science Foundation, is in exploring theories of “new physics” that fix theoretical problems with the Standard Model and explain previously unexplained phenomena like dark matter. “For any interesting new theory, my research proposes ways to experimentally support or falsify it, with the hope of eventually identifying the true fundamental theory of nature,” said Sandick.

Challenges for Women in Physics

Women are still widely underrepresented in physics. In college, Sandick got used to being one of the very few women in the room, and in graduate school, she wanted to become a physics professor at a time when only 5% of full professors in physics were women. “Like many women in male-dominated professions, I’ve experienced my share of ‘gender- related weirdness,’” she said. “Every day I’m thankful that the bulk of my negative gender-related experiences are, and continue to be, primarily exhausting and disappointing rather than dangerous or devastating.” Sandick notes that there are still a lot of equity and cultural issues to address in the field. “Science should be for everyone, and there’s a lot of work to be done to address the complex issues that lead to severe underrepresentation of certain groups. If we want to see change, we need to listen, learn, and do the work to make science more inclusive,” she said.

Sandick is committed to organizations that support women in physics. She has served on the American Physical Society’s (APS) Committee on the Status of Women in Physics (CSWP) and was recently the Chair of the National Organizing Committee for the APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) The APS CUWiP hosts approximately 2,000 undergraduate physics majors each January at various locations around the country to discuss science, career paths for physicists, and social issues that can affect the experiences of scientists from underrepresented groups. Locally, she is the founder and faculty sponsor of the University of Utah Women in Physics and Astronomy (WomPA).

When she isn’t teaching or doing research, she spends every minute with her family—a three-year-old daughter and a supportive husband.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for dark matter and particle physics,” said Sandick. “We’re still searching for physics beyond the Standard Model, including an explanation for dark matter, so there’s still a lot of work to be done. Right now, one of the most exciting challenges is using experimental data in novel ways in order to get every bit of information out of it that we possibly can. It’s a great time to be creative in terms of how new physics might look from the theoretical point of view and how it might appear in current or upcoming experiments.”

Teaching Excellence

Kelly MacArthur, assistant chair and an instructor lecturer in the U’s Mathematics Department, has received two teaching awards from the U—the Career Services Faculty Recognition Award and the Excellence in Education Award. Both awards are given annually with students nominating faculty.

“An Amazing Teacher”

Career Services recognizes outstanding faculty who have made significant contributions to their students’ professional development in helping students find resources, guide their career paths, and realize their potential. Since 2005, the Latter-Day Saint Student Association has given the Excellence in Education Award.

“Kelly is an amazing teacher and role model,” said Shams Al-shawbaki in nominating MacArthur for the Career Services Faculty Recognition Award. “Not only is she great at her job and understands the responsibility behind what she does, but she shows passion and care towards her students. Kelly has affected me in positive ways in math as well as in my self-confidence and career at the University of Utah. We need more teachers like her.”

Aubrey Mercer, who nominated MacArthur for the Excellence in Education Award, was initially nervous about taking calculus as a freshman, but it turned out to be her favorite class. “Kelly creates such a welcoming environment,” said Mercer. “She really cares about our success.” Both students noted that MacArthur makes a point to learn the names of every student in her class—no small feat since MacArthur often teaches between 150-200 students each semester.

 Teaching Students to Fail

MacArthur said her teaching style has evolved over 25 years, especially during the last decade. Every day she writes the same sentence on the whiteboard: “This is a kind, inclusive, brave and failure-tolerant class.” She created the statement to encourage a sense of community and collaboration within the context of math class. “Failure tolerance is so important, and permission to fail often gets lost in math if students are only looking for the “right” answer,” said MacArthur. “It’s important to create an environment where students feel safe and free to make mistakes. My goal is to humanize the classroom and teach human beings. Teaching math is not the primary goal—it’s learning about my students and what speaks to them.”

In addition to teaching, MacArthur co-created and appears in the Math Department’s public lecture videos. She has developed math materials for elementary and secondary teachers; developed an online math course for non-STEM majors, organized the Math Department’s involvement in the Ndahoo’ah American Indian summer outreach project in the Mohave Valley on the Navaho Reservation; and created a math program for men and women at the Utah State Prison. She serves on the Math Education Committee and on the Undergraduate Mathematics Curriculum Committee. She is also chair of the U’s Senate Advisory Committee on Diversity, among other administrative positions.

MacArthur received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Arizona State University and a master’s in mathematics from the U. She is currently working on a Ph.D. in undergraduate mathematics education.