Dr. Jeff Sanny received his B. S. from Harvey Mudd College and his Ph. D. from UCLA in experimental solid state physics. His research interests were primarily in the low-temperature magnetic properties of quasi one-dimensional crystals. These were studied using electron spin resonance in the millikelvin temperature range, which is achieved using a dilution refrigerator.
After graduation, Dr. Sanny began his professional career as an assistant professor with the physics department at LMU. This small-college environment particularly suited Dr. Sanny, who enjoys interactions with students through teaching as well as research.
As with other professors at LMU, Dr. Sanny’s primary goal is to provide the student with an environment that is most conducive to learning. His classroom atmosphere is organized but friendly, allowing for relaxed discussion and interaction. Student evaluations of his courses have consistently been among the highest in the Seaver College of Science and Engineering.
During their education, all physicists try to acquire an elusive skill called intuition, which provides insight into the analysis of problems. For example, when a complex real-world system is being considered, intuition allows one to distinguish between relevant and trivial parameters, to set up the problem, and to proceed with the analysis. It allows a physicist to derive physical meaning from mathematical equations. With the realization that most students in his courses will have careers not directly involving physics, Dr. Sanny has focused on helping them to achieve some degree of intuition, so that whatever field they may be in, they will be able to apply some of the logic and problem-solving skills they learned in their physics classes. Dr. Sanny has published several articles in The Physics Teacher, and a three-volume introductory physics textbook University Physics.
Research with undergraduate participation has been an important part of Dr. Sanny’s work. When NASA encouraged LMU to become involved in its JOVE (Joint Venture in Space Science Research) Program, Dr. Sanny was one of three faculty members who were invited to participate. The JOVE program has redirected Dr. Sanny’s research in a very positive and rewarding way. At this point, he has received funding from large external agencies such as Research Corporation, NASA, and NSF for 21 consecutive years. With his funding, he has been able to offer summer stipends to undergraduate physics students. Eleven of his students have been coauthors of articles based on their research that have been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics) and Planetary and Space Science, premier journals in space physics.
Dr. Sanny takes great pride in the accomplishments of his students and hopes to continue working with LMU undergraduates for many years to come.
On a personal note, Dr. Sanny has many hobbies that he enjoys, among which are table-tennis, poker, and dabbling in the stock market (essentially the same hobby as poker, only more expensive). He has never outgrown the wonderful video games of his formative years, and today still actively plays such games, an act that he considers one of his major vices, and one of his greatest enjoyments. He is proud to report that he has successfully vanquished all monsters in the Diablo™ series, and have nearly solved all the puzzles in the Monkey Island™ series, after receiving much help from his two children.
For more information on Dr. Sanny’s professional and personal interests, please visit his personal web page