Laurie E. McNeil
Photo courtesy of Steve Exum and Endeavors magazine
I am a Professor of Physics and
Astronomy and of Applied Sciences and Engineering. During 2004-2009 I
served as Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department, and I formerly was the department's Assistant Chair for Advancement. I also served as Interim Chair of
the Curriculum in Applied and Materials Sciences (recently renamed the Curriculum in Applied Sciences and Engineering) during academic year 2007/08, and have held the post of the Curriculum's Director of Graduate Studies. From October 2000 to April 2003 I
served as Chair of the revision of the general education curriculum for all undergraduates in the University. The new curriculum was implementated beginning with students entering in Fall 2006. During Fall 2004 I held a Chapman Family Faculty Fellowship,
and produced a plan for the transformation of introductory physics teaching at UNC.
We have largely implemented that plan with the assistance of a grant from NSF. In 2007-09 I served as a WOWS (Working on Women in Science) Scholar to enhance the representation and
success of women in the sciences at UNC-CH. I was also instrumental in establishing UNC-BEST (UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching), a
joint program between the College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Education to prepare science majors to become high school science teachers.
I have been on the faculty of
The University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill since 1984. I am a condensed matter/materials physicist, specializing in optical
spectroscopy of
semiconductors and insulators. I have been elected a Fellow
of the American Physical Society, and am a member of the University's Academy
of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, and of the Carolina Speakers
program. During the period 1996-1999 I had the honor of holding a
Bowman and Gordon Gray Professorship,
for "excellence in inspirational teaching of undergraduate students." A feature on me was included in an article about the BGG Professorships that appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of the Arts & Sciences Magazine. In November 2000 I visited
Tufts University as the Kathryn A. McCarthy Lecturer in Physics.
I was the first recipient of this lectureship, which honors a pioneering female physicist who also served as
Provost of Tufts. In 2007 I was similarly honored as the inaugural presenter of the Dorothy K. Daspit Lecture at the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute at Tulane University. In April 2004 I was one of three people invited by the AAAS to speak at a conference in Buenos Aires
(Argentina) as part of their Lecture Series on Women in Science and Engineering. In 2009 I received the Mary Turner Lane Award from the UNC-CH
Association of Women Faculty and Professionals for outstanding contributions to the lives of women at Carolina. In 2010 I was similarly honored with a University Award for the Advancement of Women. Most recently, in 2011 I was recognized by the UNC-CH College of Arts & Sciences with the William F. Little Distinguished Service Award. This award is in memory of Bill Little, former Chair of the UNC Chemistry Department and tireless servant of the university. If you want to see what I look like in other settings, click
here.
An article appeared in the Winter 2003 issue of
Endeavors magazine (published by the
UNC-CH Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies) in which I was quoted extensively on the
subject of women in science. In March 2002 I was a member of the U.S. delegation to the IUPAP Conference on Women
in Physics, and a few pictures from that conference can be seen
here.
- Background
If you want to learn about my professional training and experience, please consult
my C.V.
- Teaching
In Fall 2012 I am scheduled to teach PHYS 116 (the first course in the calculus-based introductory physics sequence, intended for physical science majors) in SCALE-UP mode. This is a method of teaching that focuses on interactive student engagement. In Spring 2013 I am scheduled to teach PHYS 415 "Optics," an upper-division course for physics majors.
- Research
My current research activities
at UNC-CH are focused on the optical properties of organic semiconductors.
- Professional Activities
In addition to my university duties, I am active in the
American Physical Society (APS). I am currently the Past Chair of the Southeastern Section (SESAPS)
and have been a member of the APS Physics Policy Committee in recent years. I served on the Executive Committee of the
Division of Condensed Matter Physics from 2001-2004, and had the same role in SESAPS in 1994-97. I was a
member of the National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics,
which was a joint effort of the APS, the American Association of Physics Teachers
(AAPT), and the American Institute of Physics (AIP). I was the Chair of APS's
Committee on the Status of Women in Physics in 1997. I
participate in the APS/AAPT Site Visit project to study ways to improve the climate for women in physics
departments, and you may wish to read a summary of
that project. At the 2004 APS March Meeting in Montreal I gave a talk entitled
"Recruitment and Retention of Female Graduate Students:
What Have We Learned From the APS Site Visit Program?".
Together with Marc Sher (College of William
and Mary), I have conducted a survey of dual-science-career couples and the difficulties they face in finding two
jobs in the same place. The report of that survey also
includes suggested solutions to the problem. A summary appeared in the February 1999 issue of
APS News, and we published an article in the July
1999 issue of Physics Today.
I can be reached at:
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Phillips Hall CB #3255
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3255 USA
You may send me
e-mail at mcneil@physics.unc.edu
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Last update: July 5, 2012