James Friedrichsen

Post-Secondary Education

University of Texas Austin
Doctor of Philosophy
Physics

University of Texas Austin
Master of Arts
Physics

Teaching Experience

 

Educational Experience

Austin Community College                                                               Austin, TX

May 2005–Present                Professor of Physics

Sept 2010–Present               Assistant Department Chair of Physical Sciences

Sept 2010–May 2013            Faculty Coach for Physical Sciences

May 2005–May 2007            Department Chair of Physical Sciences

Aug 2002–May 2005             Associate Professor of Physics

Sept 1999–Aug 2002            Multiple Semester Term Appointment III - Physics

  • Guaranteed 2(1) lecture/lab course sections per regular (summer) semester.

Sept 2000–Dec 2000            Temporary Full Time Faculty Member

July 1992–Aug 2002             Senior Adjunct Faculty Member in Math and Physics

 

Taught the following courses:

  • MATH 1314                 College Algebra            
  • MATH 1316                 Trigonometry      
  • MATH 1324                 Math for Business & Economics               
  • MATH 2414                 Calculus II                        
  • PHY 1634                    Applied Physics Lecture & Lab   
  • PHYS 1405 & 1407   Conceptual Physics I & II Lecture & Lab
  • PHYS 1401 & 1402   General Physics I &II  Lecture & Lab      
  • PHYS 2425 & 2426   Engineering Physics I &II  Lecture & Lab               

 

Served on the following committees:

  • Curriculums & Programs Committee
  • Core Curriculum Committee
  • Environmental Health & Safety Committee
  • Instructional Associate Committee – Ad Hoc
  • Science Safety Committee
  • Assessment Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy – Chair & Member
  • Budget Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy – Chair
  • Curriculum Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Distance Learning Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Evaluation Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy – Chair & Member
  • Labs & Demos Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Long Range Planning Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Master Planning Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Scheduling Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy – Chair
  • Full Time Hiring Committee – for Physics
  • Adjunct Hiring Committee – for Engineering, Physics & Astronomy
  • Applied Physics, Conceptual Physics & PHY 1653  -- Ad Hoc steering committees
  • Astronomy, Engineering, Geology & Physics Program Reviews
  • Environmental Science  & Technology Review Board

 

Held the following positions at the ACC Learning Labs:

March 2007–Present              Technical Lab Assistant IV/Tutor V/Faculty

Aug 2004–Dec 2004               Technical Lab Assistant IV

Aug 1999–Aug 2002               Instructional Associate in Mathematics at RVS

March 1999–Aug 1999           Instructional Associate in Physics at NRG

Feb 1999-Aug 1999                Technical Lab Assistant III

           

  • Acted as a liaison between the learning lab and the Physics department.
  • Assisted with tutor hiring and other tasks as assigned by the Lab manager.
  • Tutored students in Math & Physics at the RVS & NRG Learning Labs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southwestern University                                                                  Georgetown, TX

Aug 2002-Present                   Part-time Assistant Professor

Aug 2001–May 2002              Visiting Assistant Professor

Jan 2001-May 2001                Part-time Assistant Professor

 

Supervised Sean Smith’s Honors Physics Thesis on the Friedmann Equation and Relativistic Cosmology.

Supervised James Walker’s Physics Capstone Research Project on Electrostatic Lifters.

Co-Investigator on a Mundy Grant that was awarded to Dr. Mark Bottorff (P.I.) and I to work with S.U. student Allison Trumble in establishing an Operating Procedure for the New Telescope Facility at S.U.

Assisted Allison Trumble in collecting data for her Physics Capstone Project on Photometric Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei.

Supervised Conrad Miller’s Physics Capstone Research Project on Quantum Computing.

 

Taught the following courses:

  • PHY 53-053             Exploring the Universe -- Lecture  & Lab
  • PHY 53-154 & 164  Fundamentals of Physics I & II – Lecture & Lab
  • PHY 53-303             Selected Topics Course -- Elementary Particle Physics
  • PHY 53-204             Electronics – Lecture & Lab
  • PHY 53-214             Elementary Modern Physics – Lecture & Lab
  • PHY 53-324             Electromagnetism  I --  Lecture & Lab
  • PHY 53-334             Classical Mechanics I -- Lecture  & Lab
  • PHY 53-403             Electromagnetism II
  • PHY 53-413             Classical Mechanics II
  • PHY 53-423             Quantum Physics
  • PHY 53-952             Physics Capstone Course
  • PHY 53-953             Independent Study Course -- Adv. Quantum Mechanics
  • PHY 53-953             Independent Study Course -- Relativity Theory
  • PHY 53-954             Independent Study Course -- String Theory
  • PHY 53-983             Honors -- Relativistic Cosmology

 

 

University Interscholastic League                                                  Austin, TX

July 2007–May 2015                  Physics Contest Writer

Writes the questions for the physics portion of the Science Contest and did contract work for the TMSCA for the physics portion of their invitational and state meets.

 

 

Texas State University                                                                       San Marcos, TX

Jan 2009–Present              Per Course Lecturer

 

Taught the following courses:

  • PHYS 1325              General Physics II
  • PHYS 2435              Waves & Heat
  • PHYS 3320              Introduction to Mathematical Physics 
  • PHYS 4350B            Relativity 
  • PHYS 5313              Mathematical Methods of Physics
  • PHYS 5313              Theoretical Physics
  • PHYS 5331              Electromagnetic Field Theory
  • PHYS 5340              Advanced Dynamics II
  • PHYS 5370              Problems in Advanced Physics - Fluid Dynamics
  • PHYS 5370              Problems in Advanced Physics - Quantum Field Theory
  • PHYS 5370              Problems in Advanced Physics - Relativity

Committee Member for Sameer Rai's Masters Thesis on "Exploring the Evolution of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries through Binary Population Simulations"

 

University of Texas at Austin                                                           Austin, TX

Sept 1995–May 1998             Assistant Instructor

Sept 1991–Aug 1995             Teaching Assistant

 

Taught the following courses:

  • PS 303                    Intro. Physical Science I: Mechanics and Heat
  • CH 154 K                 Physical Chemistry Laboratory
  • PHY 102 M              Lab. for Gen. Physics: Mech., Heat & Sound
  • PHY 103 N               Laboratory Course for Engineering Physics II
  • PHY 474                  Advanced Laboratory I (Senior Lab)

 

Professional Publications

Friedrichsen, J. E., Okabe, T., Morrison, P.J., Shepley, L.C., APS April Meeting, "Spatially-Homogeneous Vlasov-Einstein Cosmology." (2009).

Okabe, T., Morrison, P.J., Friedrichsen, J. E., Shepley, L.C. (2001). Hamiltonian dynamics of spatially-homogeneous Vlasov-Einstein systems. Phys. Rev, 84.

M. C. Bottorff, A. P. Trumble, J. E. Friedrichsen, (Southwestern University), A. J. Benker, C. H. Hedrick, B. W. Peterson, C. M. Gaskell (University of Nebraska). Photometric Monitoring of NGC5548.  Poster presented at the American Astronomical Society’s 204th Meeting in June 2004.

Friedrichsen, J. E. III; J. F. Price; and T. K. McKee, 1991. A Field Study of the Salinity Budget and Circulation of Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay.  Interim Report #6, Edgartown Harbor Project.  Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 19 pp. unpublished

Published: August 25, 2025