John P. G. Shepherd awarded 2014 Sigma Pi Sigma Outstanding Service Award
In recognition of outstanding service to physics and for his contributions to the physics programs at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, thereby exemplifying the mission statement of Sigma Pi Sigma, John P. G. SHepherd is hereby awarded the Sigma Pi Sigma Outstanding Service Award.
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Dr. John Shepherd came to UW River Falls from England, recruited specifically to redesign our advanced laboratory courses. He initiated our Scientific Programming course (in FORTRAN, of course) long before most physics departments recommended a course in programming – and UWRF required of all physics majors! He created our Advanced Lab program which has been a pathway to success for over 45 years. He created our data analysis course and wrote the book that we still use for that course. He advised innumerable pre-engineering students, and he laid the groundwork for and established the initial agreements for our thriving Dual Degree program. For most alumni of our program, he will be forever associated with our rigorous full-year Advanced Lab course. That course is most often mentioned by our alumni as THE course that shaped their professional career.