Nicholas J. Giordano, Head of the Physics Department at Purdue University, obtained his B.S. at Purdue University and his Ph.D. at Yale University. He has been on the faculty at Purdue since 1979 and served as an Assistant Dean of Science from 2000 to 2003. In 2004 was named the Hubert James Distinguished Professor of Physics. His research interests include the properties of nanoscale metal structures, nanofluidics, science education, and biophysics, along with musical acoustics and the physics of the piano. Dr. Giordano earned a Computational Science Education Award from the Department of Energy in 1997, and he was named Indiana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 2004. His hobbies include distance running and restoring antique pianos, and he is an avid baseball fan.