Rate My Professor Jean Quashnock

Jean Quashnock is the Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Carthage College. He received his B.Sc. in Physics from McGill University in 1985 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1990. His doctoral dissertation, titled "The First Three Microseconds: Cosmic Strings, Axions, and Magnetic Fields," explored the dynamics of topological defects and phase transitions in the early universe. After completing postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, where he also held positions as lecturer and research scientist, Quashnock joined Carthage College in 1999. He continues as an associate in the University of Chicago's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and collaborates with researchers at Fermilab. He has also lectured in the Medical Physics Department at Rosalind Franklin University College of Health Professions.

Quashnock's research focuses on cosmology, the large-scale structure of the universe, high-energy astrophysics, gamma-ray bursts, and absorption-line systems in quasar spectra. As a researcher in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)—the Map of the Universe Project—he contributes to cataloging and mapping 100 million galaxies. He has authored over 60 scientific publications, including "Extreme ultraviolet quasar colours from GALEX observations of the SDSS DR14Q catalog" (2020, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society), which examines ultraviolet emission from distant quasars powered by supermassive black holes; "Galaxies with background QSOs - I. A search for strong galactic Hα lines" (2012); "A Cross-Correlation Analysis of Mg II Absorption-Line Systems and Luminous Red Galaxies from the SDSS DR5" (2009); "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey QSO absorption line catalogue" (2005); and "A Measurement of the Three-Dimensional Clustering of C IV Absorption-Line Systems on Scales of 5 to 1000 Mpc" (2001). His investigations provide insights into galaxy evolution, gravitational lensing, and the clustering of quasar absorbers. Quashnock supervises undergraduate research on gravitational waves from merging black holes using LIGO data. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, American Physical Society, American Association of Physics Teachers, and Sigma Xi. He delivers public lectures on astronomical events such as solar eclipses and scientific concepts in films like Interstellar.