Ronald Kumon

I am currently an associate professor of physics at Kettering University. I received a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in physics from The University of Texas at Austin. I subsequently worked as a research physicist at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (Boulder), University of Windsor, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and as an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University before starting at Kettering. My research interests are broadly themed around biomedical ultrasound, optical microscopy, and nondestructive evaluation of materials. I have taught introductory and upper-level physics courses, including acoustics, medical physics, solid-state physics, computational physics, and quantum mechanics. I have also been engaged in STEM outreach. I am a licensed amateur radio operator and accredited volunteer examiner. In my spare time, I enjoy listening to live and recorded jazz. I am a member of the SPS, Sigma Pi Sigma, American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, Acoustical Society of America, IEEE, and American Radio Relay League. I also served for three years as a member-at-large on the executive committee of the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the APS.

In regard to SPS, I have been a chapter advisor and Sigma Pi Sigma advisor for the Kettering University A- and B-section chapters for 14 years. (At Kettering, students alternate between school and co-op terms, and as such, we actually have two separate chapters that also alternate between quarters.) During that time, the chapters have received 14 Outstanding Chapter Awards, 10 Distinguished Chapter Awards, 2 Chapter Research Awards, and 1 Blake Lilly Award. I was also named as a runner-up for the Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award. I previously served for six years as the Zone Councilor for Zone 7, where helped to facilitate 10 zone meetings, started a zone website, and established a student zone council. As a member of the National Council, I served on the Governance, Physics Congress, Sigma Pi Sigma, SPS Task Force Committees and chaired the Governance Committee. It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your SPS President!