Summer 2005

Galen Duree Opening New Worlds

by Dale Long

This is a story about a physicist, and Galen Duree already knows what you’re thinking. He’s quite familiar with the yawns and rolled eyebrows that occur when the topic of physics enter a conversation. But don’t turn the page yet.

Give Galen Duree a chance.

That’s the same deal the 37-year-old assistant professor strikes with students in his freshman-year physics classes at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. As they begin to explore the mysteries of science –- together in an extraordinary student-teacher relationship — the skeptics are convertedinto believers. This may reveal why Duree earned the 2004 Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award after just six years on the college’s faculty.

“I tell my students right up front that I don’t have all the answers. After all, in physics we don’t understand everything perfectly. There are discoveries –- large and small — around every corner,” Duree states during an interview in his office on the ground floor of Moench Hall. “If students can understand the basic models of physics, and how they relate to other elements of science, then they can understand abstract items like examining an atom or studying electrons. If my students can understand those simple concepts, then they will be a better engineer or scientist.”

That’s why Duree loves to teach the Introduction to Physics course, whenever possible, to freshmen. “Even after 15 years, every time I teach the class I learn something new. I’m learning along with my students,” he says. “It’s nice to see, as you work with students, that it (the ideas of physics and optics) clicks and they enjoy the course. I want to show those students who may have a bias against physics, that it is a fascinating area of science.”

Just give Duree a chance.

An educator who encourages innovation and non-traditional thinking, Duree likes to involve students in outside research activities, and makes an effort to develop a relationship with each student. He presents personalized gift-wrapped holiday treat packages, created by his family, for each student in his winter-quarter classes.

“Professors like Dr. Duree are a rare breed,” assesses Matt McCormick, a 2005 mathematics graduate. “He is a very approachable person and extremely friendly. Every time I needed help with homework or just wanted to talk, he was the same every time, and every time was a great experience.”

Therese Scheibelhut, a senior optical engineering major who nominated Duree for the Outstanding Teacher Award, states, “On the first day of class, Dr. Duree makes sure his students are well aware that they are very high among his priorities (after his wife, Amber, and their three children). He encourages us to ask him questions at any time, and he stops to give the student his full attention . . . . He may have other projects going on at the same time, but I have never seen him too busy for his students.”

Finally, 2005 optical engineering graduate Mark Smith adds, “Dr. Duree is a genius . . . I think he makes his assignments difficult enough so that you have to go talk to him about it. He really understands that science is always changing and recognizes that what he is teaching is only our current understanding of phenomena.”

These students gave Duree a chance. And, on his behalf, Duree casually shrugs off the students’ high praise.

“What I can give students is my time,” he says, as he watches his 8-year-old daughter, Catherine, draw colorful pictures in his office. The child’s artwork will soon be added to a family collection on his doorway, desk and walls. “I’m not a good activity leader or group speaker, but I’m there to help my students along the path of learning. I love the one-on-one approach to teaching and learning.”

Duree also teaches courses in physical optics, paraxial optics, laser physics and electro optics, and spends time as a laser policy adviser at Naval Surface Warfare Center at nearby Crane, Ind. After working on night vision technology and development of chem-bio project, he is spending this summer leading a team of scientists, technical staff and Rose-Hulman undergraduate students to investigate the feasibility of bringing a free-electron laser system to facilitate numerous research projects in Indiana and aid in the development of the directed energy weapons program for the U.S. military. He has also worked with students in the development of fiber optics concepts for an early stage startup technology company, OptiDigit.

“I have a chance to learn, along with my students, on systems that could play a vital role in the future of military strategies and counterterrorism efforts,” he says. “This is really neat stuff and I’m having more fun than I ever could have imagined. Rose-Hulman is really an amazing place. The opportunities here are endless.”

Like many scientists and engineers of his generation, Duree became fascinated with the discovery of how things work and evolve after watching “Star Wars” as a fourth grader in his hometown of Nampa, Idaho. Six years later, he was exploring how nuclear physics could solve the world’s energy problems by perfecting nuclear fusion. That mindset changed during his senior year as a physics student at Northwest Nazarene College (Idaho), when he was introduced to a course in optics. He became intrigued with the possibilities that laser technology could treat forms of cancer, which had affected several members of his family.

“Optics and lasers opened a whole new world to me. I was really captivated by the wonderment of it all,” he says.

Through doctorate studies at the University of Arkansas, Duree supervised the operations and maintenance of lasers and other laboratory equipment, learning how to use nearly every laser technology known to mankind. He also became aware of the academic work being accomplished by a group of Rose-Hulman alumni enrolled in Arkansas’ physics master’s degree program.

“I found those guys to be very bright and highly motivated. I thought that Rose-Hulman must be a quality institution,” he recalls.

Later, Duree was asked to fill in for a professor teaching a physics course, specifically designated for architectural students. Much to his surprise, he fell in love with helping those students learn, and he readily accepted the challenge to join the Rose-Hulman faculty –- recalling the college’s high-achieving alumni –- in 1999.

“Truthfully, teaching was the furthest thing from my mind as a career. However, once I got into the classroom, it felt very comfortable. Frankly, that feeling surprised me,” said Duree, whose father was a high school mathematics and science teacher, while his mother was an elementary school teacher’s aid. “It felt like (working with students) is where I was supposed to be, and I couldn’t believe that I would have the opportunity to teach at an undergraduate institution that emphasizes optics like Rose-Hulman. Also, I have been fortunate to be associated with Crane (naval base), using my optics knowledge to help the U.S. and its soldiers, and developing my own technology-based company.”

All they had to do was give Galen Duree a chance.