Jessie Petricka

Jessie Petricka earned his B.A. in Physics from Carleton College and his Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University. He currently works as an Associate Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College and serves as the Advisor for that college’s SPS chapter. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Advanced Laboratory Physics Association, and Sigma Xi. Dr. Petricka has dedicated much of his passion and time to enhancing the SPS experience for students, as well as to the physics community as a whole. Between participating in numerous conferences, presentations, and publications, Dr. Petricka contributes the knowledge he has gained in his own experience while learning more to share with his SPS chapter.

Dr. Petricka makes his passion for student involvement and success through the various ways he makes an SPS membership easier and more engaging for his students. With a goal of increasing membership, Dr. Petricka dedicated his energy to making SPS the best opportunity for his students, even creating an event called the “photo submission contest” to engage student’s interests. He values students’ involvement in both educational activities and fun social events and encourages his students to take advantage of all their opportunities. His community involvement, ranging from the Traverse Trails Bridge Project to Physics demonstrations at local schools, displays his willingness to spread knowledge and encouragement throughout the field of physics. Dr. Petricka is described as “encouraging, energetic, and supportive” with leadership skills that have been “fundamental” to the development of his SPS chapter.