Robert R. Johnson Selected as Student Marshal for Penn State Eberly College of Science

Robert R. Johnson of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, will be honored as the Eberly College of Science student marshal during spring commencement ceremonies on 15 May 2004 at the Penn State University Park campus.

Johnson, who will be completing a major in Physics with a minor in Mathematics, has been selected to represent his class because of his superb academic record with a 4.0 grade-point average. He is enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State. In addition to his achievements in the classroom, Johnson has earned numerous awards. He was honored with the Evan Pugh Scholar Award; the Eric and Josephine Walker Award for student leadership, citizenship, and service; the President Spark’s Award; and the President’s Freshman Award.

Johnson’s selection as student marshal is one of the highlights of his college career. He says, "I was surprised and excited when I heard that I had been selected to represent the Eberly College of Science. I feel very happy to be considered worthy of this honor." He credits his professors at Penn State for guiding, motivating, and challenging him, and for giving him a lot of support. He says of his academic career at Penn State, "I was given a lot of personal attention by the faculty who inspired me and provided me with many research opportunities. They gave me a solid education and I owe a lot of my success to them."

Johnson has varied interests and his extracurricular pursuits include web design, computer graphics, roller hockey, and ice hockey. He was honored with the Western Pennsylvania College Hockey Association Player of the Week Award in 2001. He developed the Penn State West Hockey web pages. He is also a Eucharistic Minister of the Catholic Ministry at Penn State.

A graduate of Hempfield Area High School, Johnson will be accompanied at graduation by his parents, Robert and Deborah Johnson, his uncle and aunt, Mike and Sally Revella, and his cousins, Jordana and Sara Revella. Johnson has selected Moses Chan, Evan Pugh Professor of Physics, to be his faculty escort for the commencement exercises.

Johnson currently is working on an experiment to measure the low-temperature heat capacity of superconducting nanowires in Moses Chan’s physics lab. His work has involved the design and building of micro-calorimeters for the experiment. He also has worked with Richard Obermyer, professor emeritus of physics, and Edward W. Bittner, professor of chemistry at the Penn State McKeesport campus. His work there has focused on experiments on light diffracted by a solid traversed by acoustic waves, and on a study of the bond strengths of organic molecules using mass spectrometry. He also has done innovative research on a muscle-powered electric generator.

Johnson plans to pursue a doctoral degree in physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He says, "After my degree, I hope to get a professorship that will satisfy both my research and teaching interests." Chan speaks very highly of him, saying "It is a delight to have Bob Johnson as a member of my research group. He has done a wonderful job in the fabrication of the micro-calorimeter, resulting in very exciting data. He is a superb student who excels in the classroom as well as in the research lab." Chan adds, "Although Bob is currently the only undergraduate student in my research group, his dedication and his superb experimental skills have earned him respect and admiration from everyone in the group." Zhibo Chen, associate professor of mathematics at Penn State McKeesport, has been very impressed by Johnson and says, "Bob is an exceptional talent with great potential. I am sure that he will be very successful in his academic career." Richard Obermyer comments, “Bob is truly a very gifted student.” Edward Bittner adds, "Bob has a powerful intellect. I am confident that he will have a very bright future."