A photo of a man wearing a bowtie.

Meyer Honored as 2025 Richard Moore Education Award Recipient

By Heidi Opdyke Email Heidi Opdyke

Heidi Opdyke

As a physicist and educator, Carnegie Mellon University's Curtis A. Meyer has made significant contributions to the field of education throughout his more than 30-year career.

For his efforts, Meyer, the Otto Stern Professor of Physics and senior associate dean for the Mellon College of Science, is the winner of the 2025 Richard Moore Education Award. The award recognizes MCS faculty members who have made substantial and sustained contributions to the educational mission of the college, particularly faculty members whose educational contributions to the college have extended over a substantial portion of their academic careers.

"To me, this award has always been about people who have had a sustained and dedicated effort to improve education in many different ways and ultimately leaving a lasting impact on the education mission of MCS and CMU," Meyer said. "To now be part of that group of educators is humbling."

Meyer has been instrumental in advancing the Mellon College of Science through holding leadership positions such as associate dean for faculty and graduate affairs from 2012 to 2017, the inaugural associate dean for research from 2017 to 2023, interim co-director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center from 2022 to 2023 and most recently as the interim dean for MCS from 2023 to 2024.

Rachel Mandelbaum, interim head of the Department of Physics, said despite his administrative roles, education comes first.

"From 2017-2022, he taught the first class taken by many potential physics majors, Matter and Interactions," Mandelbaum said. "This is outstanding for a demanding course that immerses students in new concepts and techniques far beyond what most of them were exposed to in high school.

"Throughout his work, Curtis found the time and energy to devote to undergraduates taking their first — and one of their most challenging courses — at Carnegie Mellon. This course is also taught using the textbook that Curtis wrote, designed to meet the students' needs."

Meyer also wrote a textbox for the required sophomore electronics class, 33-228, which he taught for many years and for which his book is still used.

Ever since I came to CMU, there have been challenges and opportunities that have kept me engaged and made me feel like I was making a difference," he said. "This came from opportunities in our graduate program, the ability to write textbooks that were closely tuned to the needs of the students, leading large research efforts and supporting the college through administrative opportunities. MCS has been a great place for me."

Known for owning dozens of bowties, Meyer joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty and the Department of Physics' medium energy physics group in 1993. In addition to his research, he has taught courses ranging from first-year introductory physics to advanced graduate courses.

Meyer also has supervised or co-supervised 33 Ph.D. students and nearly as many postdoctoral fellows. He also has had nearly 100 undergraduate students conduct research in his lab.

"The excitement in the students encounter and master new material has always been the most rewarding part of education," Meyer said. "Being able to get a lively discussion about material in class and see where it goes is like frosting on a cake. I also feel that helping students get past barriers and succeed, and then seeing what they do keeps me driven to keep doing this."

Meyer received Carnegie Mellon's Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching in 2008 and MCS's Julius Ashkin Teaching Award in 2006. Mandelbaum said that in the 20 years since, he has continued to seek opportunities to expand his educational contributions and go beyond what is expected.

"To win the Ashkin and Ryan awards is a rare distinction, and to continue to devote himself to improving the experiences of MCS students inside and outside the classroom puts Meyer in a category all of his own," Mandelbaum said.

A Fellow of the American Physical Society since 2004, Meyer has conducted research at national and international labs, including CERN and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. His current work is with the Gluonic Excitation Experiment (GlueX) at Jefferson Lab's Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, where he is searching for new forms of matter, specifically the particles that hold quarks together in hybrid mesons. Meyer led the $60 million effort to design, build and commission the GlueX project, and served as the project's elected spokesperson from 2007-2020.

Meyer earned his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics at Oregon State University and completed his Ph.D. in experimental particle physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He then completed postdoctoral research at the University of Zurich, working at both CERN in Geneva and a particle physics lab in Hamburg.