The Fall semester of 2000 brought Norman Purves to the teaching faculty of the University of Hawaii, Hilo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. The University of Hawaii, Hilo (UHH) offers an excellent undergraduate program within the Natural Sciences Division to prepare students for a wide range of careers in Physics, Astronomy, and other sciences. In addition there are an opportune number of quality astronomy research telescopes in the vicinity. UHH offers superlative education in a multi-cultural environment. Now is a particularly exciting time for the Department of Physics and Astronomy, in that they will be moving into a new building later this year, and their observatory on the top of Mauna Kea has just finished its renovations. Later in the year an upgraded telescope with be installed that can be remotely controlled from a control room in the new building.

Norman G. Purves is the supervisor of both the Physics and Astronomy labs. He teaches General Physics Lab I & II, General Astronomy Laboratory, Physics for Liberal Arts, and during the summer General Astronomy. Before becoming a full fledged instructor Mr. Purves was a lecturer for the Department from 1998-2000.
Prior to his career at UHH, he served as a quality control technician for Hall Laboratories in Portland, Oregon. In 1984 and for the following dozen years, he was a telescope operator for the Canada-Hawaii-France telescope on Mauna Kea. Today he keeps to his connection and experience with telescopes by hosting star parties at the UHH Observatory on Friday evenings.

With an eye on his future, Mr. Purves was a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he received his Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics, and his Masters in Astronomy. UH Mānoa is one of only 13 institutions to hold the distinction of being a land-, sea-, and space-grant research institution, and has been classified by the Carnegie Foundation as having “very high research activity”. UH Mānoa is known for its pioneering research in such fields as oceanography, astronomy, Pacific Islands and Asian area studies, linguistics, cancer research, and genetics.

During his off hours, Mr. Purves enjoys hiking through the beautiful landscapes that are prolific in Hawaii. To entertain his ever active mind he enjoys building virtual models with Microsoft.

Norman G. Purves can be found in the Madison Who’s Who Directory, and he is looking forward to networking with you.

www.uhh.hawaii.edu