Dr. Daniel A. Russell

Biography

I began my undergraduate studies as a piano performance major, but with a keen interest in science and math. I quickly realized that I was not talented enough to make a living as a professional musician, and after taking a physics course I fell in love with the subject and decided I wanted to be a college physics teacher. I kept up the music, earning a B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Bradley University in 1988 while simultaneously earning a B.S. in Physics. I was able to merge my loves of music and physics while earning a M.S. in Applied Physics from Northern Illinoise University in 1991, writing a thesis on the nonlinear behavior of piano hammers under the supervision of Dr. Thomas D. Rossing. By that time I knew that Acoustics was the subject closest to my heart, so I went to Penn State and earned a Ph.D. in Acoustics in 1995, studying structural vibration and writing a dissertation exploring the theory of fuzzy structures and its applications to waves in plates and shells.

After earning my Ph.D., I spent 16 enjoyable years (1995-2011) on the physics faculty at Kettering Univeristy in Flint, MI. At Kettering I taught introductory and advanced physics to all levels of undergraduate students. I also taught acoustics and vibration to junior/senior engineering and applied physics majors. I developed an acoustics laboratory currently used for faculty and student research projects as well as for an advanced undergraduate laboratory experience in acoustics and vibration. While much of my focus was on physics and acoustics education, I also did research on the acoustics and vibration of sports equipment and musical instruments.

Starting in 2011 I returned to the Graduate Program in Acoustics at Penn State, as a Teaching Professor of Acoustics and Distance Education Coordinator. I currently teach graduate level courses in acoustics and vibration in a hybrid format to both resident and distance education graduate students. In addition, I oversee, manage and market the distance education component of the acoustics instruction, including oversight of the M.Eng. in Acoustics online degree program offered through the Graduate Program in Acoustics. I also pursue research involving the visualization of acoustic phenomena (animations) for educational purposes, an conduct experimental research involving the structural vibration of sports equipment (baseball and softball bats, hockey sticks, rackets, etc) and musical instruments.