Physics Dept. Tenures Doyle

Just six years after joining Harvard's junior faculty in physics, John M. Doyle has been granted tenure.

"I'm just very, very happy to be teaching at Harvard," Doyle said.

Doyle, a New Hampshire native, graduated from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering before shifting his focus to atomic, molecular and low-energy particle physics.

After receiving his Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1991, Doyle did post-doctoral work at MIT and then joined Harvard's physics department in 1993.

According to Professor of Physics Melissa E. B. Franklin, promotions within Harvard's academic departments are generally rare. But in recent years, the physics department has bucked this trend, Franklin said.

"We've done that a few times lately," Franklin said, adding that two junior physics professors were promoted this year.

Doyle's appointment brings him new administrative responsibilities. As a senior faculty member, he will serve on various committees, helping with promotions and selections within the department.

But in many ways, Doyle's new title will not change his role at the College. This year he will teach two of the same classes he taught last year: Physics 125, "Widely Applied Physics," and Physics 143a, "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics."

Michael A. Hermele '01, a physics concentrator, was one of Doyle's students in Physics 143a last year.

"He did a really good job with it," Hermele said. "It was his first year teaching the class, and he was very organized, very invested in making sure everyone knew what was going on."

"He's an incredible teacher," Franklin said.

Hermele also worked with Doyle over the summer, participating in his innovative experimental physics research.

"The good thing about his technique is that it opens doors to a lot of new physics," Hermele said.

Doyle's work has set him apart, but he dons his title graciously.

"There was one disappointing thing about getting tenure," Doyle said. "My colleague, Ulf Fuerloins, was passed up for tenure."

Fuerloins was Doyle's "colleague" in Physics 125 during the 1997-98 academic year. According to CUE guide evaluations submitted by students in the course, Doyle received a 4.9 CUE guide rating, while Fuerloins received a dismal score.

CUE guide officials later learned Fuerloins does not actually exist, though Doyle has contended otherwise.

"I do not recall not seeing Prof. Fuerloins on many occasions," Doyle said in an e-mail message to The Crimson in Sept. 1998. "I do not recall him not teaching any lectures."

In the CUE guide ratings, students noted Doyle's keen sense of humor. "He's an almost perfect human being," caring for his colleagues to the end, Franklin said.