Dr. Paul A. DeYoung, along with Dr. Belen Monteagudo, oversees Hope College’s Nuclear Group, which is one of the longest running, continuously funded research programs at Hope. Student researchers in this group have a wide variety of options. The Nuclear Group plays a large role within two internationally recognized collaborations at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams: the Modular Neutron Array Collaboration, which conducts studies of neutron-rich, ultra-short lived nuclei such as ²⁵O, and the Summing NaI group, which investigates the structure of nuclei formed in neutron star mergers and supernovae. Additionally, the Nuclear Group is responsible for work done with the Hope Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory, the college’s very own particle accelerator. Work with this device includes interdisciplinary studies of PFAS, vacancies in crystal lattices, effects of radiation and space, and trace element measurements of a variety of commercial and research materials.

Since joining the Hope faculty in 1985, Dr. DeYoung has taught nearly every one of the standard physics courses. He also has developed distance learning college physics classes as well as distance learning laboratories to accompany the lecture courses.

Since 2005 he has held an endowed chair as Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics.

Areas of Expertise

Dr. DeYoung’ current research includes:

• Structure of neutron-rich unstable nuclei
• Decay properties of rare r-process nuclei
• Ion beam analysis of materials using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), Particle Induced γ-ray Emission (PIGE), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA), and Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL).

His technical expertise includes

• LABVIEW programming for computer control of instrumentation
• Mathematical Methods in Physics (FFT, non-linear fitting, GUPIX, SIMRA, and GEOPIXE)
• Development of realistic simulations of physics laboratory experiments
• Construction of scintillating detectors for neutron and β particle detection.

EDUCATION

• Postdoctoral researcher, Nuclear Structure Labratory, SUNY, 1982–1985
• Ph.D., nuclear physics, University of Notre Dame, 1982
• B.A., physics and mathematics, Hope College, 1977
• Associate degree, science, Muskegon Community College, 1975

Selected Grants & HONORS

• “Nuclear Science with Undergraduate Researchers: Studies of Nuclei at the Extremes
  and New Applications of Nuclear Techniques” (3 years),  Belen Monteagudo Co-PI, NSF ($374,577), 2016. 
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2012
• Exceptional undergraduate researcher within the Natural and Applied Sciences Division at Hope College, 2011
• “MRI-Consortium: Development of a Neutron Detector Array by Undergraduate Research Students for Studies of Exotic Nuclei” (the lead proposal for a MoNA Collaboration request from nine undergraduate institutions totaling $1.2 million), NSF ($203,894), NSF ($203,894), 2009
• Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, American Physical Society, 2001

Select Publications

• “β-decay Feeding Intensity Distributions of ^71,73Ni,” Physical Review, 2021
• “β-decay Feeding Intensity Distributions for ^103,104mNb,” Physical Review, 2021
• “Nitrogen Beams with a National Electrostatics Corporation Alphatross Source and a 5SDH Accelerator,” Harlow, Journal of Undergraduate Reports in Physics, 2020
• “Neutron Unbound Excited States of ²³N,” Physical Review, 2017
• “Search for Excited States in ²⁵O,” Physical Review, 2017
• “Population of ¹³Be in Nucleon Exchange Reactions,” Physical Review, 2015
• “SuNSCREEN: A Cosmic-Ray Veto Detector for Capture-Reaction Measurements,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 2015

View Dr. DeYoung's other publications on his curriculum vitae.

Outside the College

Dr. DeYoung loves to go bass fishing, He plays the bass guitar with a praise band, and makes adaptive musical instruments and sensory devices for special needs children.