JR Dennison is a Professor of physics at Utah State University, where he leads the Materials Physics Group. He has worked in the area of electron scattering for his entire career and has focused on the electron emission and conductivity of materials related to spacecraft charging for the last two decades. This has often emphasized studies of the electronic structure of highly disordered materials, with an emphasis on elemental carbon allotropes.
Dennison has a strong interest in physics education with particular emphasis on secondary school interactions; activities in education outreach have included more than a half dozen teacher workshops and the development and coordination of USU Physics Day at Lagoon, an amusement park physics activity serving more than 150,000 secondary student and teachers since 1989.