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Donor Recognition

Science Donors

Thank you for your support of our vibrant community of scientists and mathematicians

Last updated - May 2022

 

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Gary L. & Ann Crocker

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ASSOCIATES $100,000-$499,999
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LJBJ
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DESERET CLUB $25,000-$49,999
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Anonymous
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ARUP Laboratories
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Burak Over
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ReCor Medical, Inc.
Rocky Mountain Power Foundation
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DEAN'S CIRCLE $1,000-$2,499
Abbvie, Inc.
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Mission Math Utah
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Dean H. & Jane H.* Zobell

DEAN'S CLUB $500-$999
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Karla Gilbert
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David Marshall
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COLLEGIATE CLUB $250-$499
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CENTURY CLUB $100-$249
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Adobe Systems Inc.
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Scott & Susan Bean
Jay Beckstead
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Anna Bessesen
Jonathan & Catherine Black
Tarlton & Lorie* Blair
Gary M. & Shanna H. Blake
L. Beth Blattenberger
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Philip & Barbara Bowman
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William O. Wilson & Carmen Buhler
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Roy Goudy
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Michael & Laura Gruenwald
William Heeschen & Judy Gunderson
Brian & Mary Haan
Heidi Hachtman
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Harry Hecht
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Lloyd Holmes
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Christopher House
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Sean Howe
Chen & Nancy Hsu
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John Hughes
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Gary & Cynthia Kanner
Anne Hamner & Cheryl Keil
Michael & Jocelyn Kelleher
Walter & Kelly Keller
Ross Whitaker & Kerry Kelly
John & Inga Kenney III
Ed & Marsha Kilgore
Jerold* & Lucinda Kindred
Paul I. Kingsbury
Jaqueline Kiplinger
Zoe Koch
Jennifer Koh
Peter* & Carole Koren
Nicholas Korevaar
Sandor Kovacs & Timea Tihanyl
Lawrence R. & Sally Kursar Sr.
Roger & Sue Ladle
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Hamilton Lucas
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William E. Miller
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Holly Sebahar
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Scott Smith
Richard Smith & Lynda George
Claudius Smith
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Timothy Snell
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Adrian & Jamie Vande Merwe
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Paul Wiggins
Eliot & Susan Wilcox
Thomas & Linda Wilkinson
Jon & Heather Wilson
David & Olivia Worthen
Kevin Wortman
Heng Xie
York & Mary Ann Yates
Steven Yourstone
Jingyi Zhu

 

*Indicates deceased

 

This list represents gifts of at least $100 made to any area in the College of Science including Departments Centers and Programs between 01/01 2021 and 05/01/2022. Standard University group designations are used. We are extremely grateful for these and all of our generous supporters.

Cottam’s Gulch

Cottam's Gulch


One of the most tranquil spots at the University is Cottam's Gulch, the small gully that runs behind the Crocker Science Center to University Street. The grassy, tree-lined area, with its meandering stone pathway and lone bench, is a perfect place to read, meditate, picnic, or enjoy exuberant birdsong.

It's a place rich in history, too. Miriam Taylor Meads BS'36 and J. Walter "Walt" Woodbury BS'43 MS'47 PhD'50, both children of University professors, grew up in the homes opposite the gully in the 1920s. They remember it as an idyllic playground due, in part, to the abundance of neighbor children from other prominent University families—the Ericksens, Ballifs, Strongs, and Cowleses. With his friends, Woodbury played touch football in the gulch and rode bikes down one steep side and up the other. "We just had a blast," the retired University physiology professor says.

Meads attended the University from kindergarten through her college training and graduation in elementary education. "In the winter, Cottam's Gulch was a wonderful sleighing hill — beginning up by the Stewart School and going down to Dean Ericksen's driveway. The big hill had nice big bumps in it," she says.

In the 1930s the University proposed filling in the gully. Walter P. "Doc" Cottam, a University botany professor, early ecologist, and founder of Red Butte Garden, thought the gorge should remain a natural area. He prevailed and subsequently planted native and experimental trees, including a zelkova, a pagoda, a large cottonwood, and a giant sequoia. Clearly, Cottam's most important contributions are the oaks he hybridized and planted throughout campus. They stand as statues of his research work, and the gulch retains his name.

"Cottam crossed Utah live oaks, found in southern Utah, with our local Gambel oaks to produce hardy oaks that would hold their leaves through the winter," explains University arborist Ann Williams. "Each fall a man comes to the University to collect acorns from Cottam's hybridized oaks. He and his family grow them and sell them as 'Cottam's oaks.'

"For the last 70 years, the gulch has been used for a variety of purposes, ranging from sorority and fraternity parties to a backdrop for the theatre department's plays. However, it is its historical use as a campus kissing spot that best symbolizes the passion and peace of the place.

—Ann Jardine Bardsley BA'84

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The Stewart School

The Stewart School


The William M. Stewart School was established as a training school for school teachers (Normal School) at the University of Utah in 1891 and continued under the State College of Education and the Graduate School of Education.

The Stewart School was attended by children from kindergarten to junior high. The Stewart School closed after the 1965-66 school year. The building was named after William M. Stewart, the founder of the school.

1988 Reunion

On Sept. 30 former students of Stewart Training School will gather from all over the country to meet at the University of Utah Alumni Center for the first reunion in its 76-year history.

Even though the school closed its doors in 1967, the response to invitations has amazed co-chairmen Ann Wilkins Ellis and Pat Campbell Bevan."We hoped we might have 60 or 70 people come," says Ellis, "so we rented one room of the alumni house. With each mailing, we asked for another room until in August we asked for the whole building."

When Eudora Widtsoe Durham heard there would be a Stewart School reunion, she thought of her best friend, Christine Gossett Ames and called her in California. They graduated from ninth grade in 1927.

"We have to go," she said, "we'll be the oldest ones there." Ames agreed and will come to Salt Lake from her San Diego home for the event. Then Durham contacted her three children, Carolyn Person, Doralee Madsen and George H. Durham, who also attended Stewart School during the 1950s.

She and Ames will not be the oldest ones there, however, because that distinction belongs to Larena Crow, who finished eighth grade at Stewart in 1919.

When Crow heard the news, she, too, began letting people know. She called her brother Arthur in Boise, Idaho, her sister, former tennis champion Ruth Crow Nelson, her friend Mrs. Alice Sheets Marriott in Washington D.C., her neighbors, Homer and Phoebe Stringham - all alumni from the school. She also wrote to Franklin Forsberg in Connecticut, who was one of her classmates.

Watercolorist and art critic George Dibble, supervisor of art at Stewart from 1941 to1947, presented the committee a painting of the school for the cover of the reunion program.

Heber Hall taught at Stewart from 1949 until the late 1960s. He uncovered his collection of slides and found hundreds he had taken of his students on field trips and recreational activities while at the school.

Why all this reunion excitement for a school that has not even existed for 20 years?

Former students of Stewart School are bonded by a unique learning experience they shared under the direction of some of the most prestigious educators in the state's history. William M. Stewart, for whom the school was named, was nationally recognized for his contributions to learning and teaching theories, which he perfected in the "laboratory" of Stewart School.

John R. Park, president of the University of Deseret, started the school in 1869. It was his idea to add a model school to the first two grades of his expanded Normal School program. "Normal School" was the early name of the Department of Education and its students practiced their teaching at the model School.

When William Stewart became head of the Normal Department in 1888, he carefully enlarged the model school and created a Normal Training School where university students could learn the most up-to-date teaching methods known in the country. Their young students, ranging from kindergarten through ninth grade, benefited from Stewart's enlightened philosophy:

"The school must be made a life-laboratory wherein childhood can be given the fullest, freest expression. Nothing is too good for the child."

When the training school was moved onto the U. campus, the students had access to the university's gymnasium, the library and the Home Economics Department - facilities not at all "too good" for Stewart's students.

"As we left Stewart School," says Ellis, "we had to make an adjustment to `public' high school. But most of us went on to the University of Utah, and it was like going back home to a campus we knew and loved."

At a time when formal education consisted mostly of theory and memorization, Stewart introduced the startling idea of hands-on education. Believing that "knowledge is valuable only to the extent that it is useful," he gave his teachers free rein to put the children into contact with what they studied.

"Florence Knox taught botany," says Durham. "We took long walks to study nature first hand. She shared her love of growing things with us as we walked."

"We studied foods in eighth grade," says Larena Crow. "We had our class in the university's Home Economics Building with a professor for our teacher. Miss Croxall taught us how to cook and then we prepared a luncheon every Friday for our faculty. We cooked, decorated the tables, served the meal and then cleaned up afterwards."

Today's occasional "field trips" were a regular part of the curriculum at Stewart Training School. Students visited fire stations, banks, the campus theater, the state legislature and U. sporting events. It was taken for granted that they would be interested in the trips, and they were.

"We had a marvelous group of youngsters," says George Dibble. "They were given more freedom than students in other schools, and they did not abuse it. They had more zest for learning."

A Salt Lake Tribune photographer was surprised by this fact, Dibble recalls. He planned a story on the last day of school and chose Stewart School as his subject. He set up the camera facing the main doors just as the closing bell was about to ring. He would get a picture of the students rushing out of school with shouts of freedom. Instead, the boys and girls came slowly out the doors, very morose, obviously unhappy.

Puzzled, the photographer couldn't use the picture. He explained to some students what he was trying to do and asked them to go back in, get some old books, and come out throwing the books in the air.

The students' fondness for school attendance was undoubtedly connected with Stewart's infectious philosophy of learning, which was maintained by succeeding directors. "Teaching is consecrated service," he told prospective teachers. He said they should not teach ideas only, but should show students how ideas relate to their own lives. He wanted children to learn many skills and promoted "manual training" as a part of their curriculum.

As a result, students learned leather working, clay modeling, carpentry, needlework and mechanical skills. Manual training was not preparation for the trades, but preparation for life. Stewart noticed that many students were not intellectually inclined, but could excel in these skills. He found that their enthusiasm for learning increased when they alternated manual training with "book learning."

Eudora Durham was a student at Stewart during the years her father, John A. Widtsoe, was president of the U. She feels fortunate to have attended the school from kindergarten right through junior high school.

"We had so many advantages," she says. "We were often treated to outside lecturers, specialists in their fields, who visited the University. We had the benefit of master teachers who were hired because they had so much skill to share with student teachers."

She recalls being stimulated in art by Maude Hardman, in music by Jessie Perry, and in literature by a Miss Stevens, who would "read wonderful stories to us . . . if we behaved."

"We had dances in the hallways at lunch during junior high," she says, "and we had couple parties because our parents trusted us to act maturely."

"My grandmother's loom was given to the University's Home Economics Department," she says, "and I had the chance to work on that loom because that is where our classes were held."

According to Larena Crow, Stewart graduates were innovative and independent thinkers _ which sometimes got them into trouble. In 1919 she and some classmates went to East High and registered as freshmen. Then they went downtown to a movie. When they came to school the next day, they were expelled for missing the first day of classes.

"The principal was firm," she recalls. "He called around to other schools in the city, but nobody wanted us. Finally he let us come back to East, but we were on probation for the whole freshman year."

In spite of this inauspicious beginning to their advanced education, many of her classmates distinguished themselves. Forsberg later became ambassador to Sweden; Alice Sheets became associated with the giant Marriott Corporation with her husband Willard; Larena Crow organized a dance orchestra, "The Frosh Five," and put herself through college. She then taught public school for 38 years.

The school produced more than its share of high achievers, but the real success of the system was in the low percentage of dropout students _ nearly zero.

"Learning was an adventure," says Heber Hunt. "The students learned while they were being introduced to real life around them."

They learned about broadcasting by producing a radio show which was based upon research they had done on field trips. They learned about politics by visiting the legislature and rewriting their school constitution. They learned about other cultures by getting an introductory course in languages which gave them the basics of French, Spanish and German.

In 1940, Frances G. Davis wrote a history of Stewart School as her master's thesis. Dr. Roald Campbell, who was director of Stewart School from 1942 to 1951, thought it would be appropriate that someone finish the history. He expressed this interest to his daughter, Pat Bevan, who had already heard Wilkins' idea of a reunion.

Together they sent out a questionnaire along with a reservation form. In a snowball effect, the list of names has grown to more than a thousand. The responses will help in the history writing as well as in the booklet being presented to reunion participants.

Campbell and his children (Pat, Bruce, Judy and Adelle) represent just one of the families who shared the Stewart School experience. But for all the alumni, it will also seem like a family reunion as they recall together their unique learning experiences.

 

Patricia Hadley, Patricia Hadley is a freelance writer and former student at Stewart School
Deseret News Sept 27, 1988
https://www.deseret.com/1988/9/27/18779848/stewart-school-is-having-a-reunion-br-former-classmates-gather-to-reminisce-about-the-good-old-days

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Darwin’s Pigeon “Enigma”

Darwin’s short-beak enigma


Charles Darwin was obsessed with domestic pigeons. He thought they held the secrets of selection in their beaks. Free from the bonds of natural selection, the 350-plus breeds of domestic pigeons have beaks of all shapes and sizes within a single species (Columba livia). The most striking are beaks so short that they sometimes prevent parents from feeding their own young. Centuries of interbreeding taught early pigeon fanciers that beak length was likely regulated by just a few heritable factors. Yet modern geneticists have failed to solve Darwin’s mystery by pinpointing the molecular machinery controlling short beaks—until now.

In a new study, biologists from the University of Utah discovered that a mutation in the ROR2 gene is linked to beak size reduction in numerous breeds of domestic pigeons. Surprisingly, mutations in ROR2 also underlie a human disorder called Robinow syndrome.

“Some of the most striking characteristics of Robinow syndrome are the facial features, which include a broad, prominent forehead and a short, wide nose and mouth, and are reminiscent of the short-beak phenotype in pigeons,” said Elena Boer, lead author of the paper who completed the research as a postdoctoral fellow at the U and is now a clinical variant scientist at ARUP Laboratories. “It makes sense from a developmental standpoint, because we know that the ROR2 signaling pathway plays an important role in vertebrate craniofacial development.”

The paper published in the journal Current Biology on Sept. 21, 2021.

Mapping genes and skulls

Two domestic pigeon breeds photos facing each other, the left one has a very short beak, big black eye, white feathers on the head with a crest sticking up. The right pigeon has gray brown feathers on the head with a red eye ball, and a beak that's about twice as long as the other birds.

PHOTO CREDIT: Sydney Stringham

Old German Owl (left) and Racing Homer (right) domestic pigeon breeds.

The researchers bred two pigeons with short and medium beaks—the medium-beaked male was a Racing Homer, a bird bred for speed with a beak length similar to the ancestral rock pigeon. The small-beaked female was an Old German Owl, a fancy pigeon breed that has a little, squat beak.

“Breeders selected this beak purely for aesthetics to the point that it’s detrimental—it would never appear in nature. So, domestic pigeons are a huge advantage for finding genes responsible for size differences,” said Michael Shapiro, the James E. Talmage Presidential Endowed Chair in Biology at the U and senior author of the paper. “One of Darwin’s big arguments was that natural selection and artificial selection are variations of the same process. Pigeon beak sizes were instrumental in figuring out how that works.”

The short- and medium-beaked parents produced an initial F1 brood of children with intermediate-length beaks. When the biologists mated the F1 birds to one another, the resulting F2 grandchildren had beaks ranging from big to little, and all sizes in between. To quantify the variation, Boer measured beak size and shape in the 145 F2 individuals using micro-CT scans generated at the University of Utah Preclinical Imaging Core Facility. 

“The cool thing about this method is that it allows us to look at size and shape of the entire skull, and it turns out that it’s not just beak length that differs—the braincase changes shape at the same time,” Boer said. “These analyses demonstrated that beak variation within the F2 population was due to actual differences in beak length and not variation in overall skull or body size.”

An animation of the skulls of birds showing the variety of beak lengths from short to long.

PHOTO CREDIT: Elena Boer

High-resolution scans of the grandchildren of the Racing Homer and German Owl cross. The animation shows the variety of beak lengths from shortest to longest.

Next, the researchers compared the pigeons’ genomes. First, using a technique called quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, they identified DNA sequence variants scattered throughout the genome, and then looked to see if those mutations appeared in the F2 grandkids’ chromosomes.

“The grandkids with small beaks had the same piece of chromosome as their grandparent with the small beak, which told us that piece of chromosome has something to do with small beaks,” said Shapiro. “And it was on the sex chromosome, which classical genetic experiments had suggested, so we got excited.”

The team then compared the entire genome sequences of many different pigeon breeds; 56 pigeons from 31 short-beaked breeds and 121 pigeons from 58 medium- or long-beaked breeds. The analysis showed that all individuals with small beaks had the same DNA sequence in an area of the genome that contains the ROR2 gene.

“The fact that we got the same strong signal from two independent approaches was really exciting and provided an additional level of evidence that the ROR2 locus is involved,” said Boer.

The authors speculate that the short-beak mutation causes the ROR2 protein to fold in a new way, but the team plans to do functional experiments to figure out how the mutation impacts craniofacial development.

Headshots of domestic pigeon breeds. The left four have short beaks, the right four have medium or long beaks.

PHOTO CREDIT: Thomas Hellmann, adapted from Boer et al. (2021) Current Biology

Representative images of individuals representing short beak (left four birds) and medium or long beak (right four birds) pigeon breeds (image credit: Thomas Hellmann). Short beak pigeons, from left to right: English Short Face Tumbler, African Owl, Oriental Frill, Budapest Tumbler. (B) Medium/long beak pigeons, from left to right: West of England, Cauchois, Scandaroon, Show King. The short-beak birds all had the same ROR2 mutation.

Pigeon enthusiasts

The lure of the domestic pigeon that mesmerized Darwin is still captivating the curious to this day. Many of the blood samples that the research team used for genome sequencing were donated from members of the Utah Pigeon Club and National Pigeon Association, groups of pigeon enthusiasts who continue to breed pigeons and participate in competitions to show off the striking variation among breeds.

“Every paper our lab has published in the last 10 years has relied on their samples in some way,” said Shapiro. “We couldn’t have done this without the pigeon breeding community."

 

by Lisa Potter - originally published in @theU

Internship Events

Jim Hanson

Jim Hanson


Jim Hanson’s (BS Physics ’85) path to the University of Utah and college was different from most students. When he graduated from high school, Hanson had little interest in attending college and no clear goal as to what he wanted to do with his life. He worked odd jobs until he got tired of living out of his car.

Finally, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and trained as a jet engine mechanic. He was stationed in New Mexico for nearly three years. Although he was doing well, he still had no real direction until he was offered an opportunity to train as a flight engineer.

Flying meant a lot of training: physiological demands, understanding performance metrics, learning aircraft systems, and attending survival schools, but once he made the decision his life changed. He was assigned to a weather reconnaissance squadron whose primary duty was to monitor compliance with the nuclear test ban treaty. These missions took his squadron to all corners of the world. His squadron was nicknamed the “Pole Vaulters” because of the many Arctic missions that took them over 90 degrees north latitude. “Military flying was exciting enough by itself and being in the company of highly educated professionals opened my mind to so many new possibilities and opportunities that I had never considered,” said Hanson.

Although Hanson loved what he was doing, he realized that a university degree would open many more doors. He had family in Salt Lake City and was a Utah resident, so the U was the logical choice for his education when he left the Air Force. “Initially, I thought I could schedule my classes early or late enough and still manage a full day of skiing, but I quickly realized that if I wanted to get through college, I had to commit to studying and forget about skiing for a while,” he said.

Experiences at the U

His experiences at the U made all the difference. “When I look back, I realize my time at the U not only changed the direction of my life professionally, it fundamentally changed the person I would become later in life,” he said. “To see the doors that education opened for me and the opportunities that resulted from it has been remarkable. I’m eternally grateful for having received not only a valuable education but also for having developed an intense desire for learning that has sustained me and enriched my life.”

One of his favorite professors was the late Dr. Lynn Higgs, a physics professor, who also served as the Physics Department advisor. Hanson isn’t sure he would have graduated without Higgs’s mentoring. He particularly enjoyed the Introduction to Modern Physics course taught by Christopher Stone, who was a graduate assistant at the time. Dr. Stone is still with the department, serving as associate professor (lecturer). Hanson remembers that Stone had a gift for teaching matched only by his enthusiasm for the subject. Another favorite was the late Dr. Fritz Luty, who taught an optics course.

Being at the U felt like a new lease on life for Hanson after experiencing some difficult years. In retrospect, Hanson believes he had to learn things the hard way. “I appreciated my college experience a lot more when I was older than if I had started at the U right out of high school,” said Hanson. “Physics wasn’t an easy major, but I was much more focused on my studies having been out in the world and having seen the value of a formal education and, especially, the limitations for not having one.”

Navy Career

Following graduation from the U in June 1985, Hanson was offered a chance to become a naval officer. He was advised that it might be a year or more before he could attend Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS) so he continued taking classes at the U and even started a master’s program in electrical engineering before leaving for OCS in June 1986. He received his naval commission in September 1986 and spent the next four years at sea. He found being a naval officer, especially a junior one, was as challenging as anything he had ever done up to that point. “Whenever we were confronted with adversity or a crisis, which was fairly often, we told ourselves that it was just another chance to excel.” said Hanson. “Funny as the expression seemed at the time, I’ve realized that often I’ve learned the most when faced with adversity or failure.” He elected to transfer to the Naval Reserve at the end of his first tour at sea, primarily so he could complete the master’s degree he had started four years earlier.

After he completed the degree in 1993, Hanson accepted a civilian engineering position with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Coronado, California. He was happy to be back in San Diego since he had spent much of his time there in the Navy. The Naval Air Station at North Island also had a great flying club, and Hanson gave countless airplane rides in the T-34B trainers to friends and co-workers. Later, he accepted a senior engineering position with the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (now known as the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) in Japan. He had traveled to Japan many times during his military career, but actually living there was an unforgettable experience, and Japan remains one of his favorite places.

Sept. 11, 2001 and Retirement

September 11, 2001 became a defining moment for all Americans. For Hanson it meant returning to active naval service, where he served in various operational and senior staff positions, mostly overseas, for the next 13 years until he retired from the Navy after 28 years of commissioned service in 2014. During this period, Hanson received a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

Following his retirement, Hanson returned to full-time civilian employment in San Diego. As the propulsion and power team lead for the NAVAIR, he managed a large team of engineers, technicians, and contractors tasked with supporting naval aircraft.

Life as a Navy civilian was very different than being on active duty. “At times it seemed like managing civilians was a lot like herding a bunch of feral cats; it required a whole new set of management skills,” said Hanson. “Yet, I was truly fortunate to be associated with such highly motivated and gifted individuals and still maintain contact with many of them following my retirement.” His organization actively supported STEM (Science, Technical, Engineering and Mathematics) initiatives in the local San Diego area, and mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers was one of the more rewarding aspects of his work.

Advice for Students

Hanson recently moved from San Diego back to Utah after a 30-year absence. As much as he loves the beaches and weather in Southern California, he is a skier at heart. He’s delighted to live within 15 minutes of Snowbasin.

Hanson believes there has never been a more exciting time to be a scientist, mathematician, or engineer. “A degree in physics gave me a solid foundation for every endeavor I pursued,” he said. “It also instilled in me the ability to think critically and reason effectively in all facets of my life.”

“Everyone hears that life is a journey and it’s true,” said Hanson. “At the end, it really is the journey you’ll remember. Enjoy the ride and make the most of it, maintain a sense of humor, and try not to take anything personally. Believe in yourself and never stop learning.”

Hanson spends time skiing, climbing, and trekking in far-flung parts of the globe. He has traveled to nearly 40 foreign countries and lived in several during the course of his military or civilian duties. One of his favorite places is Norway, where his grandparents immigrated from. Except for 2020, he tries to spend a couple months in Norway each year. He reads, mostly non-fiction. “What I read is not as important as why I read,” he said. “I think my studies at the U left me with an insatiable curiosity to explore and dig deeper, regardless of the subject.”

by Michelle Swaner first published at physics.utah.edu

Crimson Laureate

Crimson Laureate Society


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 matching donation programs. In these cases, supporters of the college 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.

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