Fond Farewell: Retired Physics Professor David Kagan

David Kagan, a dedicated leader in the Department of Physics for nearly 40 years, passed away on July 15. He was 67 years old.

Born December 16, 1956, in Los Angeles, Kagan was hired to teach at Chico State beginning in the fall semester of 1981. He taught for 38 years, served as the chair of the Department of Physics from 1998 through 2003, and was the founding chair of the science education department from 2009 to 2012. Kagan retired in 2014 and worked as a Faculty Early Retirement Program member from 2014-19.

“David Kagan, more than anyone else, shaped this department into what it is today,” said Dr. Eric Ayars, a physics professor who worked with Kagan for nearly two decades. “Our mission is to provide the best undergraduate physics education, period. Full stop. It shows a bit of an attitude, and it’s truly aspirational, both of which are traits Dave brought to our department.”

Kagan’s aspiration to make the University a premiere destination for undergraduate physics majors helped draw Ayars and others to Chico State.

“There was an interview in one of the physics journals about primarily undergraduate institutions like this getting administrative pressure to add master’s programs,” Ayars recalled. “He said something along the lines of: ‘The world doesn’t need another average master’s program in physics. At Chico State, we’re putting our resources into becoming the best possible undergraduate physics program.’ I read that and thought: that’s where I want to work.”

Kagan walked the talk. His colleagues remember fondly his student-first perspective, his willingness to help them become better professors, and most of all, his contagious enthusiasm for learning. His door was always open to faculty, staff, and students, and he cherished the conversations they shared.  

The department’s annual pumpkin drop was a place where Kagan’s love of physics was always on display. He started the popular event and ran it for 22 years until 2010. That year, the department dropped 21 pumpkins in his honor in what they called a “21-pumpkin salute.”

None of the students who will participate in this year’s pumpkin drop knew Kagan personally. But Ayars is confident they will bear witness to his legacy. “It carries through,” he said. “Dave was a mentor to and to Professor Anna Petrova-Meyer and me, and we are mentoring the new faculty using some of the teaching techniques we learned from him. He leaves a legacy of students who learned to share his love of physics and are teaching it all over Northern California and beyond and of colleagues who became better educators under his mentorship. We are all still benefitting from his impact.”

Kagan also left these words and requested they be used for his on-campus obituary:

“David Kagan graduated from California State University, Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) with a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1977. He immediately began graduate study in physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in atomic spectroscopy in 1981. That fall he became a faculty member in the Department of Physics at California State University, Chico. Kagan’s love of teaching physics at all levels was encouraged and rewarded by a department filled with positive colleagues committed to quality physics education.

Dr. Kagan was particularly proud of his role in establishing a degree program specifically designed to train high school physics teachers. It was one of the first in the country and one of only a few approved programs in the entire California State University system. His dedication to future science teachers continued in his service as the science coordinator for the Mathematics and Science Teacher Initiative for almost 20 years.

Dr. Kagan served as the Chair of the Department of Physics and as the founding chair of the Department of Science Education. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he also served a year as assistant dean in the College of Natural Sciences. Kagan also served as an officer in the Northern California/Nevada Section of American Association of Physics Teachers for four years, culminating in a year as president.

As the faculty advisor of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) for over 25 years, his students earned national recognition as an Outstanding Chapter 20 times and Kagan earned the National SPS Outstanding Advisor Award. His student-first focus also twice earned him the College of Natural Sciences Regas Award for “Extraordinary patience and persistence in the service of our students.” Kagan’s service was also honored on campus. He was twice named Chico State’s Myles Tracy Outstanding Student Organization Advisor.

Kagan was a regular contributor to The Physics Teacher having published over thirty papers in the journal and served on its editorial board. Kagan demonstrated his deep devotion to quality teaching by avidly engaging his students with methodologies adapted from the findings of physics education research.

Through it all, Kagan remained true to his lifelong obsession with baseball. He was a regular contributor to The Hardball Times and his articles on baseball analytics and the physics of baseball were not only noticed by physicists and physics students but also by the front offices of many Major League Baseball teams.

Most importantly, David was ever so proud of his surviving children, both in helping professions: Rachel, a high school chemistry and physics teacher, and Renee, a physician assistant. He is also survived by his high school sweetheart and wife Carol Kirk, with whom he had many adventures, including trips to every current Major League ballpark except for the newest one, Globe Life Field in Texas. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Paul G. Hewitt Scholarship for Future High School Physics Teachers. Gifts by check can be written to the University Foundation (please notate “In Memory of David Kagan” in the memo line) and sent to:

Gift Processing – 0999

California State University, Chico

400 W. 1^st St.

Chico, CA 95928

The University Flag will be lowered Thursday, September 26, in his honor.