CSU professor commits to providing $2,000 yearly scholarship to all university physics majors

Jearl Walker has been a physics professor at Cleveland State University for 44 years, and continues to teach because of his passion for his students and for the field of physics. Walker hopes to pass this passion on to future physicists and give back to the CSU community through the creation of the Jearl Walker Scholarship. It will provide a $2,000 yearly award to junior and senior level physics majors at Cleveland State, and Walker has committed to provide additional funding for future students who enter the program over the next five years.

“I have dedicated my life to promoting the power and importance of physics to our daily lives and I have been very fortunate to have been able to make a successful career out of this passion,” Walker says. “I am honored to be able to give back to CSU and help current and future students earn their physics degrees and join the profession that has brought me so much joy.”

“Jearl Walker is a true legend in the field of physics education and has also been one of the foremost popularizers of science to the general public,” adds Meredith Bond, dean of CSU’s College of Science and Health Professions. “We have been extraordinarily lucky to have him here at Cleveland State for over four decades and I want to personally thank him for this generous gift to our physics program.”

Physics majors will need to be fully enrolled in the university, take a physics course at the junior or senior level, and maintain a 2.5 GPA to be eligible for the scholarship.

Jearl Walker has earned international acclaim for his efforts to promote physics principals to the masses. He is the author of the seminal book The Flying Circus of Physics, toured the nation presenting science demonstrations, including walking on hot coals and hanging upside down from interlocked phone books, and has appeared frequently on national television, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He is a fellow of the American Association of Physics Teachers and CSU’s College of Science and Health Professions Outstanding Teaching Award is named in his honor.

To view Cleveland State’s video series featuring physics demonstrations by Walker, visit www.youtube.com/FlyingCircusofPhysics.

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