2008 Woodie Awards
Let us introduce you to ... Ian Redmount, Ph.D.
Allison Reilly
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
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For 15 years, Ian Redmount, Ph.D., has taught classes in Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology ranging from introductory physics to advanced mathematics for engineers.
When not in class, Redmount participates in ballroom dancing and also performs research in the field of general relativity-more specifically on gravitation theory and cosmology, which is the study of the universe.
"My main inspiration for getting into physics is the space program," Redmount said. "In my day, television stations would interrupt football games to show space shuttle launches."
Redmount said his father was a chemical engineer, so many of the books in the house were scientific.
"It was a bookish household. I remember having coloring books on the solar system and learning the terminology," he said. "I wanted to be involved in the frontier. Space was a mystery then."
"He's really smart," said William Thacker, Ph.D., the head of the Physics Department in Parks College. "He reads a lot and knows a lot about lots of things."
In his office, one side of a bookshelf holds textbooks in math and science. The other side has his textbooks from his undergraduate years. When he has the time, Redmount likes to read historical fiction, and he just finished a six-volume series on Republican Rome.
"Everything's an exercise for the student," said senior Theresa Perks, who had Redmount for advanced math for engineers, modern physics lab and classical mechanics. "He really challenged us to turn in superior or quality work."
Redmount said his teaching ideology does not take into account whether or not his students have good memories.
"I want to know how much [students] understand," he said. "I want students to apply what I teach in class to problems they haven't seen before and to rise to that challenge."
As a result, he administers take-home exams, saying that he is unhappy with in-class tests, which he said focus on the "arcane skill" of completing a physics problem in 10 minutes. But there's more to Redmount's reputation besides his method of education. He is also an avid ballroom dancer. Redmount and his wife, Hisako Matsuo, who is also a professor at Saint Louis University, recently competed in the Amateur National Tournament.
"We did better than at previous national tournaments. We made the first cut but didn't make the final cut," he said. He said that they tend to do well locally but have a much harder time at national competitions.
Redmount started ballroom dancing in high school, even meeting his wife through the activity in 1994. After a four-year hiatus from dance during his undergraduate career at Michigan State University, he picked up ballroom dancing again during graduate school at the California Institute of Technology and has continued ever since.
During his research tenure at Cambridge University in England, Redmount received medal testing, which is a performance evaluation for dancers.
Redmount has earned honor certificates in ballroom and Latin dancing at the bronze, silver and gold levels, and a commended certificate in gold-level latin dancing.
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