Counting What Counts topic of 61st Harrington Lecture at USD
Keller, associate dean with the College of Arts & Sciences and professor of physics, has actively worked to promote physics in South Dakota and she has been involved with the efforts to promote USD’s participation in the Sanford Underground Research Facility in western South Dakota.
A member of the USD faculty for 24 years, Keller also served as the chair of the Department of Earth Sciences and Physics, and currently serves as the director of the physics program. In addition to teaching calculus-based introductory physics, modern physics and astronomy, Keller’s research interests include the search for Dark Matter and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay, as well as condensed matter physics and physics education. She has also served as the Faculty Athletics Representative for USD since 2006, and played a key role in the institution’s transition from NCAA Division II to Division I. In 2006, she was the recipient of USD’s prestigious Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching. Keller graduated from North Dakota State University with a B.S. in 1984 and a PhD. in 1988. In 2010, she was named a distinguished alum of the NDSU College of Science and Mathematics. A photo of Keller is available for download at www.usd.edu/press/news/images/releases/Tina_Keller.jpg.
Named in 1966 in honor of Elbert Harrington, professor of speech and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences (1945-1970), the lecture is an annual event featuring a distinguished professor with long-standing service to the College of Arts & Sciences. Each year a faculty committee in Arts & Sciences recommends to the dean the name of a faculty member to deliver the Harrington Lecture. The faculty member must be a teacher and scholar, and the lecture must be non-technical, blending insight into liberal education with the faculty member’s work as a scholar. A reception will be held immediately following the lecture.