Rate My Professor Kasey Wagoner

Kasey Wagoner, Ph.D., is the Director of the Simons-NSBP Scholars Program (SNSP) at the Simons Foundation's Flatiron Institute, a position he has held since designing and launching the program in 2020. This collaborative effort with the National Society of Black Physicists provides undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds with immersive summer research opportunities in computational astrophysics and physics at the Flatiron Institute. Wagoner earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2010, where his dissertation, "Laboratory Investigations of Short Range Gravity," detailed the design, construction, and testing of a high-sensitivity torsion balance to probe gravitational forces at short scales. Following his doctorate, he contributed to experimental gravity research and later served as a Lecturer in the Department of Physics at Princeton University, teaching introductory courses and engaging in outreach activities. In 2022, he joined North Carolina State University as an Assistant Teaching Professor, advancing to Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy by 2025.

Wagoner's research encompasses cosmology, with significant contributions to cosmic microwave background (CMB) studies through the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and Simons Observatory collaborations. He is a co-author on pivotal ACT Data Release 6 publications, including "The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Constraints on Extended Cosmological Models" (2025), which updates forecasts for primordial gravitational waves, neutrino masses, and inflation models; "The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Power Spectra, Likelihoods and ΛCDM Parameters" (2025); and "DR6 Maps" (2025). Earlier, he contributed to ACT DR4 power spectra analyses (2020). Wagoner maintains interests in tests of gravitational interactions from his graduate work. In physics education research, he investigates outreach programs, graduate physics education experiences, and strategies to broaden STEM participation. He has coordinated education and public outreach for the Simons Observatory and ACT, and communicates science through explanations of phenomena such as baseball curveballs, home runs, and figure skating jumps. Wagoner's multifaceted career bridges fundamental research, education, and inclusive program leadership, fostering the next generation of physicists.