Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Janiel Adames | Dr. Frank Narducci, NPS professor of physics and winner of the latest Richard W....... read more read more
Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) physics professor Frank Narducci has been awarded the 2025 Richard W. Hamming Faculty Teaching Award.
Launched in 2000, the prestigious annual award is a recognition of outstanding teaching, excellence in thesis supervision, and strength of contribution to NPS students beyond the classroom. Narducci was presented with the award during the Fall Quarter Graduate Awards Ceremony in mid-December.
“I was very pleasantly surprised and humbled,” Narducci said. “As a professor, I am tasked with teaching students, which I approach to the best of my ability. So, it was very nice that I was recognized and placed in the company of other very excellent professors and teachers who have won this award, as well as being associated with an award in memory of such a distinguished mathematician as Richard Hamming.”
Hamming was renowned for his work on the Manhattan Project and a string of mathematical breakthroughs including the Hamming Codes — self-correcting error codes that fundamentally altered computing with regard to the transmission of data.
For the NPS community, he was a highly influential teacher whose passion for learning and igniting insight in his students extended beyond the classroom, inspiring generations. His course, “The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn,” affectionately known as “Hamming on Hamming,” was always full, and was broadcast to prominent labs throughout the world.
Narducci continues this legacy.
“He is known for his excellent teaching style, including one-on-one sessions at the blackboard, guiding students through complex concepts with patience and clarity,” noted NPS Acting Provost Matt Carlyle in an announcement of this year’s award to the campus.
“Over the course of their studies, he devotes countless hours to his students explaining the fundamentals of quantum sensors, and he remains accessible at all hours,” Carlyle continued. “His passion for physics inspires and motivates, while his ability to challenge students appropriately ensures they master advanced, equipment-intensive experiments in his state-of-the-art laboratory.”
The key to his teaching philosophy, Narducci said, is “flexibility.” An explanation that works for one student may not make sense to another. Likewise, a mode of learning that works for one student may not for another.
“I try to find what works for the student,” he explained. “There is no greater reward than when you almost literally see the light bulb go on when they grasp a difficult concept.”
In practice, Narducci heavily involves his students in his research, including an ambitious effort to build NPS’ own Atomic Fountain.
Constructed by Narducci and his students in an unused elevator shaft in Spanagel Hall, the high-tech instrument utilizes quantum mechanics to detect minuscule variations in gravity on operationally relevant timescales. The research conducted has wide-ranging applications — tracking submarines, conducting precision navigation in GPS-denied environments, and even identifying a tunnel network being carved out of a mountain, among many other threats adversaries want to keep hidden.
“Nearly all the theses and dissertations I have supervised have been based on or supported my research,” Narducci said. “It gives the students the opportunity to work on state-of-the-art problems, applying what they learned in the classroom, either from me or my colleagues.”
I also try to tie research work, either my own or my colleagues’ research into classroom instruction,” he continued. “I try to show the students the relevance of what they are learning either for their own thesis work or for problems they may encounter once they leave NPS.”
The Hamming Teaching Award winner receives a $2,500 award, an engraved plaque and lifetime membership provided by the NPS Foundation and Alumni Association. Learn more about Narducci’s research in quantum mechanics in the https://youtu.be/nacy_e4_pUM?si=zVlsQH5NHXfMZFEX.
NPS, located in Monterey, California, provides defense-focused graduate education, including classified studies and interdisciplinary research, to advance the operational effectiveness, technological leadership, and warfighting advantage of the naval service. Established in 1909, NPS offers master’s and doctorate programs to Department of War military and civilians, along with international partners, to deliver transformative solutions and innovative leaders through advanced education and research.
| Date Taken: | 12.31.1969 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2026 13:37 |
| Story ID: | 557536 |
| Location: | MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 10 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NPS Physics Professor, Quantum Science Expert Wins 2025 Hamming Teaching Award, by Matthew Schehl, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
