Musical acoustics and science education: What I learned from Thomas D. Rossing

Abstract

My professional journey into teaching and working on musical acoustics projects owes a great amount to the mentorship I was fortunate to receive from Thomas D. Rossing. I had the great privilege to meet Dr. Rossing as an undergraduate when my advisor arranged for us to make some measurements in Rossing's acoustics lab at Northern Illinois University. I expressed interest in attending NIU to study with him and was thrilled to realize that dream when I started (and completed) my Ph. D. program under Dr. Rossing's supervision. I frequently think about the many ways in which I learned what was important for student learning about science, especially acoustics, from my time as Dr. Rossing's teaching assistant. Throughout the years of knowing him, he has continuously been an inspiration to my way of thinking about how I teach and how I mentor my students. His pursuit of knowledge and love of learning have been instilled in my teaching and in the musical acoustics work that I do with students. In this talk I will highlight the various ways in which my career and life have been enriched by the example that Thomas Rossing has set.