Nicholas Giordano: Renaissance man
Name: Nicholas Giordano
Current position: Department head of physics and Hubert James Distinguished Professor of Physics
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
Year graduated from College of Science: Bachelor's degree in physics, 1973.
Years teaching at Purdue: Began teaching physics here in 1979 after earning a Ph.D. and teaching for two years at Yale.
Why Purdue? "I came to Purdue on a tennis scholarship. I was a 17-year-old freshman and Hovde was president then. Purdue had a good reputation, and quite a few of my classmates from high school chose to go here."
Inspired by students: Elected into Purdue's Teaching Academy in 2003, Giordano said he returned to Purdue because it is a great university with a strong physics department. "I like working with students. It keeps me young. It's a great feeling to see your students go on to do great things."
Fun with physics: In his spare time, Giordano enjoys biking, jogging and pianos — playing them and restoring them. He's working on a book about the physics of the piano and has about 19 of the musical instruments (ranging from an 1770s square-shaped model to modern-era ones) in his home.