Robert Scherrer

Robert Scherrer is Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University, where he arrived in 2003 following 15 years as a professor of physics at Ohio State University. He received is A.B. in physics from Princeton University, spent two years at Cambridge University on a Marshall Scholarship, and then received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Chicago. While a professor at Ohio State, Scherrer received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. His teaching...See more

Robert Scherrer is Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University, where he arrived in 2003 following 15 years as a professor of physics at Ohio State University. He received is A.B. in physics from Princeton University, spent two years at Cambridge University on a Marshall Scholarship, and then received his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Chicago. While a professor at Ohio State, Scherrer received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. His teaching philosophy follows the advice of Hippocrates: First, do no harm. He believes that most physics students come to study physics because they find it interesting, and it is the teacher s job to maintain that interest while navigating the sometimes-difficult subject matter. Scherrer s own research is in the area of theoretical cosmology, including the physics of the early universe, dark matter and dark energy, and the large-scale structure of the universe. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and five children." See less