George Spagna

Update 12/23/2014

In the 2 years since my last post:

·        Sylvia and I celebrated our 40th anniversary last June. Sylvia is now officially “retired” having given up her part-time position as Parish Administrator.

·        I’m still teaching physics and astronomy at Randolph-Macon College, now in my 29th year.  I was asked by the Provost to be Director of our academic internship program – students receive credit rather than pay.  We fielded a record 142 interns last academic year and are on track to break that record this year. I’m also working on the design for a new, relocated College observatory – a planned addition to our science building will for decommissioning of the current facility.

·        Reverend Daughter Amy is serving at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

·        Daughter Kim married Mike Cruz last month, just before moving to Silver Spring, Maryland from Naples, Florida.  She has taken a job with the DC Superior Court.  The big celebration will be next February, when we’re all taking a cruise to Cozumel, where the Rev. Big Sister will bless the wedding on the beach.

·        By the way, I’m now the Mayor of the Town of Ashland (“the Center of the Universe”) – somewhat an ironic position for an astronomer! We were the center of a lot of political attention as one of my erstwhile faculty colleagues defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary, and then ran successfully against another faculty colleague for that seat.

Time does seem to fly when you’re having fun!

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   “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;

           the real tragedy is when adults are afraid of the light.”

                                                                         – Plato

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Update 12/20/12

Time seems to fly.  I’m in my 27th year teaching physics and astronomy (and a bit of theology, when I can work it in!) at R-MC, and seriously considering retirement in 2017.  I’m in my third 4-year term on Ashland Town Council, and in my second 2-year term as Vice Mayor.  Younger daughter Kim is Supervising Attorney in the Naples office of the Florida Division of Children and Families.  Older daughter Amy was just ordained a Priest in the Episcopal Church (picture attached – you can probably figure out who’s who!).  She taught high school Latin for 11 years before answering the call and heading off to seminary at Yale.

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         “Be yourself.  Everyone else is taken.”

                                                          – Oscar Wilde

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Original Post 2008

Gee, where to start?

I’m in my 23rd year at Randolph-Macon College, after finishing my PhD in 1986 (while working part-time as the physics lecture setup person at RPI for 7 years!).  I was department chair for 16 years, stepping aside last year for a long-overdue sabbatical.

I also direct activities at the Keeble Observatory here at R-MC, which has a modest optical telescope and two radio telescopes built as student projects. 

Ashland itself is a small town about 15 miles north of Richmond, where it’s very easy to get involved in Town affairs.  Back in 1999-2000 my wife and I were involved in a grass-roots effort to keep Wal-Mart from coming to Ashland with a store we felt was much too large and out of character with the rest of town.  (You may have seen  a PBS show called “Store Wars” which documented the battle.)  Wal-Mart won their rezoning, but at the cost of having the citizens vote out of office every member of Town Council who voted for it!  In 2004 I ran out of excuses and found myself elected to Town Council … I was re-elected this last spring, and am now serving my second 4-year term.  Let me just note that zoning and street paving may seem about as far as one can get from astrophysics – but it still requires “knowledge and thoroughness” to help run a small town!

Some may recall that I donated a kidney to a colleague in 2000.  Unfortunately, Russ lost the kidney in 2006, and died at the beginning of last summer (which is one reason I was not at Reunion.)

Sylvia and I celebrated our 34th anniversary last June.  Our older daughter is Amy, who is a high school Latin teacher currently in a discernment process to find out if she’s called to ordained ministry.  Kim, the younger daughter, is an attorney working for the State of Florida as a children’s advocate.  She took her current job after 2½ years in the Public Defender’s office in Ft. Myers. 

There’s more on my web site (address below).

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 "I have therefore found it necessary to deny knowledge,

                      in order to make room for faith."

                               -  Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason

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Dr. George Spagna
Physics Department
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505

phone: (804) 752-7344
fax: (804) 752-4724
e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu
http://faculty.rmc.edu/gspagna/public_html/index.html