Chad A. Middleton, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President for Faculty Success
Professor of Physics

I received a B.S. in physics from Eastern Illinois University in May 1998 and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in December 2005 under the supervision of Dr. George Siopsis. I joined the Department of Physics at Rhodes College in August 2005 for a one-year teaching position before joining the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences here at Colorado Mesa University (formerly Mesa State College) as an Assistant Professor of Physics. In August 2010, I was promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Physics and in August 2012 I received tenure. In August 2015, I was promoted to the position of Professor of Physics. In August 2021, I accepted the position of Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs for Faculty Success, where I now split my time between administrative and academic duties.

As CMU has a heavy teaching load, I spend much of my time teaching undergraduate physics courses ranging from general physics to upper-division courses including advanced dynamics, electromagnetic theory, and quantum mechanics. I am actively involved in theoretical research in the area of Einstein's theory of general relativity, particularly, in cosmology in higher-dimensional spacetimes. In addition, I have worked on a variety of research projects involving CMU undergraduate students on topics including the physics of kayaking, the high road/low road demonstration, on circular orbits on a warped spandex fabric, on elliptical-like orbits on a warped spandex fabric, and on cosmology in higher dimensions.