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Physics Professor Wins Cal State Northridge’s Top Mentoring Award

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2006) -- Duane Doty began teaching physics at Cal State Northridge 40 years ago, and he’s just getting started.

"His classes are virtuoso performances in which the theoretical and mathematical descriptions are given color by original demonstrations and applications of the theory to every day phenomena," said colleague Ana Cristina Cadavid, chair of CSUN’s Physics and Astronomy Department.

In short, Doty is a master of the art of communicating complicated ideas to his students. His receipt last month of the 2005-2006 Don Dorsey Excellence in Mentoring Award is a tribute not only to that talent, but to the larger role he sees for himself and his peers.

"Professors do not just teach, but have a lot to learn from their students," Doty said. "We wear ‘several hats,’ and once a teacher can lure a student into a conversation, there usually develops a one-to-one relationship.

"Topics such as religion, crises at home and views in general always abound…Hopefully, you have a bit of experience or advice to pass on, and if not, just good old concern makes a difference sometimes," he said. "I have never seen a good teacher who at the same time did not show and express concern for his or her students."

Presented by the university’s Faculty Mentor Program, the Dorsey award recognizes faculty and staff who 1) have made exceptional contributions to mentoring students, 2) take a holistic approach to mentoring, including academic and personal support, and 3) who support the university’s commitment to the success of students of diverse backgrounds and communities.

After earning his doctorate in experimental nuclear physics at UCLA, Doty joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1966. Since then, a number of his publications have involved the participation of his CSUN students. Weekly, he meets with undergraduate and graduate students working on topics such as the measurement of cosmic rays and radiation in the CSUN campus environment.

"His continuous enthusiasm is contagious," said Cadavid, acknowledging that the honoree "has achieved with the students what many of us struggle with: that the purpose is to learn, that the point is the process and not the grade."

The Dorsey mentoring awards were established in 1998 by the Faculty Mentor Program and the Educational Opportunity Program, in honor of educational psychology and counseling professor Don Dorsey, who helped develop CSUN’s first mentor training program.