Celebrating faculty: David Nice

David Nice | Photo by Adam Atkinson

What is the focus of your research?

I am an observational astronomer. I use radio telescopes to make measurements of pulsars.  These are rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit beams of radio waves. As the star rotates, its beams sweep through space, much like a lighthouse beam sweeps through the sky as its lens rotates. My students, collaborators, and I use pulsar measurements for a range of astrophysics studies in areas such as orbital motion, the interstellar medium, and the characteristics of relativistic spacetime. Recently, NANOGrav, my research collaboration, published a series of papers using pulsar measurements to give strong evidence that Earth is buffeted by gravitational waves that likely originate from distant pairs of supermassive black holes orbiting one another with periods of many years.

What will you be teaching in the fall?

I will be on sabbatical this fall, but in fall 2023, I taught PhYS 130: Relativity, Spacetime, and Contemporary Physics and I co-taught PhYS 308: Astrophysics. 

What does receiving an endowed chair mean to you, and how does this endowed position further your teaching and/or research?

I find my teaching, my research, and my service to the campus community to be very fulfilling. It was a surprise and honor for my efforts to be acknowledged by an endowed professorship. I am touched by the generosity of foundations and individuals who fund endowed positions. My position comes with modest research funds, which will facilitate such things as research-related travel. More importantly, the salary support provided by endowed positions helps Lafayette continue to attract top-flight faculty across all of our departments and programs. 

Read more about faculty members newly named to endowed positions.