BY ALINA AHAMED ’27

Tell us a little about your background.
I was born in Dalian, China. It’s a city in the northeast of China along the seashore. I went to Dartmouth College for graduate school after I graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China. Then I went to Penn State for a postdoc for two years, and now I’m here. I majored in physics and astronomy, and I have been interested in astronomy ever since I was an undergraduate. Other than astronomy, I do a lot of science communication writing. I also like writing and have an ongoing fiction novel in Chinese. I like to travel and have been to many different countries. One of the reasons I came to Wartburg is because of our study away programs in May Term. I like how the faculty are involved in the planning stage because I would like to contribute to these programs with collaborators that I know in countries like Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Chile. Those places are great for astronomy and tourism in general. I’m looking forward to designing trips.

What are you doing for May Term this year?
I’m going to teach introductory-level astronomy courses, so it will be part of the general education. We’ll do some observations with small telescopes and simulated observations on computers. If I can get the observatory running in the summer, then we can use the fancier ones.

What is the proudest achievement of your career so far?
I would say getting this position and being able to work with students of different backgrounds in a small liberal arts college. I absolutely enjoy the feeling of being able to get satisfaction by teaching and students being truly interested in what you have to say.

What is one thing your colleagues or students don’t know about you?
I like to read books in various scientific fields but specialize in writing fiction novels. I always get the impression from people that they think I am writing science fiction novels but in reality, I’m writing pure fiction in an ancient oriental setting. I also really enjoy eating food, especially Asian-style cuisine. If I was not a teacher, I would definitely open a Chinese-style seafood restaurant somewhere.

What impact do you hope to make during your time at Wartburg?
I want to get the observatory running again, since I heard it’s been dormant for four years. The students in my department haven’t even used the telescope, and they are almost graduating. The other thing is that I’m teaching physics. I feel like this is not a very popular major, I hope people will not be afraid of that and try to take one or two classes to see what it is about because physics has everything to do with our everyday life. We see physics every day, and it’s not scary. Lastly, all I hope to do is to help my students learn, help them know more about science, and give them help with whatever they need, so they become better people overall, no matter if they want to stay in physics or not.

What would be a word of wisdom for your students?
This is a Chinese saying loosely translated as: “Do not fail to commit an act of kindness just because it is small in scale. Do not commit an evil act just because it is small in scale.” It sounds cliche but recently I realized if you just smile at someone, they would feel a lot better. I know if I’m feeling stuck or frustrated, I could just be on my own instead of lashing out or giving bad energy to someone. So that’s something that I keep an eye out for, especially when I’m around students or other people in my day-to-day life. I would encourage everyone to follow this saying because it’s really helpful.