Contact Information

Laura Barlament
Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications

laura.barlament@luther.edu

Phone: 563-387-1332

Senior Jack Moriarty receives Rossing Physics Scholarship

Jack Moriarty head shot

Luther senior Jack Moriarty has been named a Rossing Physics Scholar for the 2024–25 academic year.

Luther College senior Jack Moriarty has been named a Rossing Physics Scholar for the 2024–25 academic year. Moriarty will receive $10,000 from the Thomas D. Rossing Fund for Physics Education.

Moriarty, a double major in physics and mathematics from Waukee, Iowa, plans to pursue a career as a theoretical physicist. He would like to help deepen our understanding of the universe by applying mathematics to physics.

“For as long as I can remember, math and science have fascinated me,” he said. “At some point in high school, I became drawn to the subject of calculus and its power to solve difficult problems.” 

At Luther, he has been involved in National Science Foundation-funded physics research led by Professor Todd Pedlar, focused on experimental particle physics. Pedlar and his students conduct research as members of the international collaborations Belle and Belle II at KEK, Japan’s High Energy Research Organization, located in Tsukuba, Japan. 

“I reached out to Jack to find out if he’d be willing to join my research group the summer after his first year, and he jumped at the chance—and I have been so glad that he did, as he has been an outstanding research assistant since then,” said Pedlar.

During the summers of 2022, 2023, and 2024, and continuing into this academic year, Moriarty focused on the study of elementary particle physics. He applied several advanced mathematical and computational methods to improve the precision of his results, which deepened his understanding and enjoyment of the research process. During this, his senior year, he will complete an Honors Senior Project based on this research.

“My physics courses have led me to a profound love of the theoretical frameworks of physics, and my experimental research has given me the drive to build and understand models to answer the open questions about the universe,” Moriarty said. “For these reasons, I plan to earn my Ph.D. and pursue a career as a theoretical physicist. In this way, I would like to use the language of mathematics to explore models of physical systems and help further our understanding of the universe.”

The Thomas D. Rossing Fund for Physics Education makes available scholarships annually for exemplary students in physics. The awards are made possible through gifts from Dr. Thomas D. Rossing, who created the fund through the foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. After graduating from Luther, Rossing earned master’s and doctoral degrees in physics from Iowa State University and worked as a professor of physics at St. Olaf College, Northern Illinois University and Stanford University. Rossing wanted to support students who majored in physics by providing scholarships in addition to other financial aid to exemplary physics students. 

Contact Information

Laura Barlament
Executive Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications

laura.barlament@luther.edu

Phone: 563-387-1332