Rate My Professor Peter Hoffmann

Peter M. Hoffmann served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach Campus from the fall of 2022 until August 2025. A native of Germany, he double-majored in physics and mathematics at Technische Universität Clausthal before obtaining a master’s degree in physics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Ph.D. in materials science from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Oxford in 1999. Hoffmann joined Wayne State University in 2001 as an assistant professor of physics, advancing through the ranks to full professor. He chaired the Department of Physics and Astronomy, founded and directed the Biomedical Physics Program from 2007 to 2012, served as associate dean for academic programs from 2012 to 2015, and as senior associate dean of research from 2015 to 2017 in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His leadership experience encompasses faculty and student retention, fundraising, research oversight, and financial management in large arts and sciences colleges.

Hoffmann specializes in nanomechanics, biophysics, atomic force microscopy, nanoconfined liquids, and the statistical behavior of nanoscale systems, employing techniques such as atomic force microscopy, neutron diffraction, and computer simulations. He is the author of the popular science book Life’s Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order from Chaos (2012), which explores molecular machines in cells and was long-listed for the Royal Society Winton Prize, selected as a top ten physics book by the UK Institute of Physics, and a top five book by the American Physical Society. Key publications include Dynamic Solidification in Nanoconfined Water Films (2010, 208 citations), Island Growth in Electrodeposition (2011, 215 citations), and Energy Dissipation in Atomic Force Microscopy and Atomic Loss Processes (2001, 152 citations). He received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award from 2003 to 2008, was elected to the Academy of Teachers at Wayne State University, and maintained continuous research funding from the NSF and other agencies. Hoffmann conducted neutron diffraction research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, led major NSF grants for STEM education reform and institutional transformation in physics teaching, and promoted undergraduate research, mentoring, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in STEM at Embry-Riddle, overseeing departments including Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology, Humanities and Communication, and Security Studies and International Affairs.