Dr. Theodore “Ted” Poehler (BS ’56; MS ’58; PhD ’61) has retired from the Johns Hopkins Department of Materials Science and Engineering, marking the end of a distinguished career in academia.
“My original interest in materials science arose as an undergraduate student in electrical engineering,” said Poehler in a faculty Q&A earlier this year. “The physical properties of materials and how those properties influenced the phenomena that we observed fascinated me, and they motivated me to explore more about the materials origins of observed behavior.”
After earning his doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins in 1961, Poehler began his career as a researcher at the US Army’s now-defunct Ballistic Research Laboratory. In 1963 he joined the Applied Physics Laboratory.
Poehler ultimately went on to serve as a researcher, teacher, and administrator at Johns Hopkins University, contributing his expertise to the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards program, the Whiting School of Engineering’s part-time graduate programs, and the establishment of important interdisciplinary research efforts, to name only a few accomplishments. His efforts were spurred by his deep enthusiasm for teaching.
“I believe that sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm about our discipline encourages students to take interest as well. Helping another generation get started is one of the most important things we can do to strengthen the discipline.”
Related
- Faculty Q&A: Ted Poehler
- Ted Poehler Looks Back at His 55 Years at Johns Hopkins (JHU Gazette, Dec. 2007)
- Power from Plastics: Hopkins Scientists Create All-Polymer Battery