College Physics

Hugh D. Young (late) was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University. He earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from that university. He earned his Ph.D. in fundamental particle theory under the direction of the late Richard Cutkosky. He also had two visiting professorships at the University of California-Berkeley.

Dr. Young's career has centered entirely on undergraduate education. He wrote several undergraduate-level textbooks, and became a coauthor with Francis Sears and Mark Zemansky for their well-known introductory texts. In addition to his role on Sears and Zemansky's College Physics, he was also author of Sears and Zemansky's University Physics.


Raymond J. Chastain is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Louisville. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia working on observational astrochemistry at radio wavelengths. He is currently engaged in physics education research, particularly in investigating the factors that lead to student success in the introductory physics sequence. He is the recent recipient of the Faculty Favorites Teaching Award.

Dr. Chastain's professional career has been dedicated to teaching and student instruction. Prior to his graduate work in physics, Dr. Chastain received a graduate degree in education and worked as a high school teacher. After completing his Ph.D., he returned to the high school classroom for several years before accepting several teaching positions at the college level. He has been involved in multiple programs aimed at improving student learning at both the K-12 and college levels, including several programs working with K-12 teachers to strengthen their understanding of the material they are teaching and the pedagogy used to deliver it.


Philip W. Adams is a Professor of Physics at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from Rutgers University in 1986 and then held a postdoctoral research position at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ for two years.

Prof. Adams is an internationally recognized low temperature experimentalist and has published over 70 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has given many invited presentations on his work at international workshops and conferences on condensed matter physics.

Prof. Adams has had a career-long interest in physics education. He has taught introductory physics for engineers and for non-engineers many times in his 25-year tenure at LSU and has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards. Most recently, he helped produce and was, in fact, the narrator for the MasteringPhysics online Video Tutor Solutions for the 13th edition of University Physics by Young and Freeman.