West Chester Whiz Could be 'Finest Physics Major' in Loyola History

Though he's still a year away from getting his undergraduate degree, a West Chester native is making his mark in academia.

Kevin Paul Seltzer, of the Loyola University class of 2014, has been awarded a $7,500 scholarship from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education program. The scholarship honors students who have shown outstanding potential in the sciences and and intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering.

According to the university, Seltzer is a physics and mathematics double major who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, and eventually teach and conduct research at the university level after graduation.

“There’s a tendency in society to see science just in terms of technology, but that’s never been how I’ve seen science,” Seltzer said in a press release. “It’s really a way of thinking about the world, and I firmly believe that’s what makes science so useful to people because it allows us to step back and say, OK, there are certain problems in the world and if we use a logical process, that scientific method, we can get a definitive answer.”

In his short time at Loyola, the academic whiz already has completed two Hauber Summer Research Fellowships during which he conducted extensive research on the Casimir effect.

According to the University, the Casmir effect is:

An attractive force experienced by two uncharged metal plates when they are placed extremely close together. Casimir effect research is critical to ensuring that components of nanotechnology are structurally sound.

His professors are duly impressed.

“Many of the science faculty tell me that Kevin could well be the finest physics major in Loyola’s recent history,” said Arthur Sutherland, Ph.D., director of the national fellowships office.