COL George M. Brooke IV is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he has taught since 2004. A 1994 graduate of VMI with a B.S. in physics, he returned to the Institute after earning his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics at Old Dominion University, where his doctoral research produced a microwave cavity discharge flowing afterglow system he designed and built to measure proton transfer reaction rates between hydronium ions and organic molecules. Before joining the VMI faculty, he spent two years as a research scientist at the Laser and Optics Research Center at the United States Air Force Academy, working on optical dipole traps, ultra-cold atomic gases, precision atomic lifetime measurements, and the guiding of cold atoms through hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber.
At VMI he teaches across the physics curriculum, from the general physics sequence and laboratories through electricity and magnetism, classical mechanics, thermal physics, and senior thesis. He rebuilt the department’s Electronics and Interfacing course around modern circuit methods, LabVIEW-based data acquisition, and MultiSIM simulation, redesigned the general physics laboratory sequence under a VMI Faculty Development Grant, and co-developed PY-220 Physics Seminar to give cadets a venue for discussing current research. He has served as class advisor to the Class of 2010 and as the Superintendent’s Representative to the Honor Court.