Spring Break
Professor develops theory and rapport
By: Kenny Ryan
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: News
Christopher Pope is a distinguished professor at Texas A&M who uses his position as a teacher and researcher to attempt to solve one of the great fundamental mysteries of physics: the unification of gravity and quantum theory.
The theory Pope is working on is called String Theory, and he compares its potential to that of James Clerk Maxwell's equations, which unified the sciences of electricity and magnetism. Maxwell's discovery in the 1860's is one of the foundations of modern physics and plays an integral part in the technology of the 21st century.
Pope has taught at A&M for nearly 20 years. He received his doctorate from England's University of Cambridge in 1980, where he studied as a graduate student with famed physicist Stephen Hawking. Pope spent seven more years in England before moving to the United States to pursue a career that he refers to as a great adventure.
"Back in the 1980s, I was looking for a job in England," Pope said. "The market was dire so I looked in the states. I got a job at [the University of Southern California], but didn't like all the freeway driving. I got a chance to move here after a year and have been here nearly 20 years since."
In the previous 19 years, Pope has accrued the respect and compassion of his colleagues and students.
"I was his grad student in [the 1990s]," said Hong Lu, now a research fellow and Pope's colleague in the Physics Department. "He's a great advisor; all the grad students like him. One important quality is that he is sympathetic to students. We go [to his class] for his dry English humor."
Pope has been recognized by both his students and his department with awards for his teaching skills.
"The grad students have an award for professors," Lu said. "Pope was the first person to get the prize, and he has gotten it several times afterwards. He also was given a teaching award by the College of Science."
Lewis Ford, the associate head of the physics department, said, "[Pope] is by far one of the favorite [professors], and an excellent teacher."
The theory Pope is working on is called String Theory, and he compares its potential to that of James Clerk Maxwell's equations, which unified the sciences of electricity and magnetism. Maxwell's discovery in the 1860's is one of the foundations of modern physics and plays an integral part in the technology of the 21st century.
Pope has taught at A&M for nearly 20 years. He received his doctorate from England's University of Cambridge in 1980, where he studied as a graduate student with famed physicist Stephen Hawking. Pope spent seven more years in England before moving to the United States to pursue a career that he refers to as a great adventure.
"Back in the 1980s, I was looking for a job in England," Pope said. "The market was dire so I looked in the states. I got a job at [the University of Southern California], but didn't like all the freeway driving. I got a chance to move here after a year and have been here nearly 20 years since."
In the previous 19 years, Pope has accrued the respect and compassion of his colleagues and students.
"I was his grad student in [the 1990s]," said Hong Lu, now a research fellow and Pope's colleague in the Physics Department. "He's a great advisor; all the grad students like him. One important quality is that he is sympathetic to students. We go [to his class] for his dry English humor."
Pope has been recognized by both his students and his department with awards for his teaching skills.
"The grad students have an award for professors," Lu said. "Pope was the first person to get the prize, and he has gotten it several times afterwards. He also was given a teaching award by the College of Science."
Lewis Ford, the associate head of the physics department, said, "[Pope] is by far one of the favorite [professors], and an excellent teacher."
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