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Who is this
guy?
A Rough Biography
Born in the mid-60's, the
young Davies spent his first month in glare of the
spotlight and thus became accustomed to living with a
fame few in the small burg of Portland, Oregon had yet
known. Rescued by his new parents, Hank and Toni Davies,
and taken to the bustling metropolis of Ashland, the
place as far away from Portland as possible while still
be able to claim the God-given privilege of being called
a native Oregonian, he spent an idyllic year and a half
roaming the green fields of Lithia park and setting
infant and toddler world swimming records. Shortly
thereafter, the now obscure youth retired to sleepy
Medford, Oregon to take up life on Easy Street.
Davies would remain on Easy
Street for the next 16 years of his life. He attended
Wilson Elementary School where he majored in "Locomotive
Rendering and Design" as well as recess. During this
time, the child prodigy would begin consulting publishing
firms on the United States Space Program as well as begin
his quest along the scouting trail. Upon completing six
grueling years of study, Davies now found himself
preparing to face the gauntlet that was Hedrick Junior
High School. While here, he would wore bell bottoms no
man had worn before. He would also join Boy Scout troop
14 and rediscover his lost love of the scientific pursuit
of knowledge after a brief flirtation with the idea of
accepting a position on the United States Supreme Court (much
to the disappointment of soon to be President Ronald
Reagan). After completing Jr. High with honors, Davies
entered the hell known as "The Prison", Medford
Mid-High. The school, built shortly after the inception
of the dark ages, proved a testing ground for Davies'
grit and determination. Finding a shining light in his
mentor Richard McReynolds, he began his first studies of
physics in the fields of electromagnetism and biology.
During this time, Davies found solace in the outdoors,
spending every available weekend camping with his troop.
In due time, Chad earned the rank of Eagle Scout, was
elected to the Order of the Arrow (which he considers to
this day one of the greatest honors bestowed upon him),
became friends with a truly great man, James A. Savard,
his scoutmaster and lifelong associate and gave his life
to Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior. It was also at this
time that he began to be a part of the Medford playtest
group for the role-playing game Champions under the
direction of the visionary gamer, Jim Landes. Assuming
the guise of Flechette, fighter of tyranny and injustice,
Chad battled evil in every imaginable form, even if it
was only around Jim's kitchen table or down at "Name
of the Game". For his last two years of pre-college
education, Davies moved to Medford Senior High School,
now known as North Medford High. It was here in the
rarefied air of the college-like campus that he smelled
the winds of revolutionary fervor and demonstrated for
the rights of aeronautical engineers worldwide and
lobbied for legislation protecting chemistry teachers
from goldfish. In addition, Davies' goals in life finally
crystallized. He know knew that he wished to teach
Physics and Astronomy to the public. In this goal he was
inspired by the great popularizer of astronomy, Dr. Carl
Sagan. With this in mind, he graduated with honors from
Medford Sr. High and embarked upon the first of his two
summers as a lifeguard at Low Echo Girl Scout Camp.
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Davies began the
first steps along the way to his goal at Southern
Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon
University). Thrilled at being able to return to
Ashland where, like Camelot, it snowed only in
the mountains and all things were young and new,
Davies embarked on a standard course of study
that would lead him to earn Bachelors of Science
in Physics and Computer Science. In his spare
time, Chad fenced for the tourists and measured
radon levels in and around 100 homes in the
region as part of an Oregon Lung Association
Study. Additionally, he served as Student
Government Executive Vice-President and Night
Manager for SOSC's Student Union thus earning the
identities of "Night Man" and the
"Demi-God of Stuff". Chad's greatest
achievements, however, came under the direction
of the physics faculty at SOSC, most notably, Dr.
Gordon Wolfe who both molded Davies' mind and
introduced him to the joy of microbrewed beer.
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Lured to the
University of Florida, Davies left the cool
mountain air of Ashland for the brutal heat and
humidity of Gainesville. Here he became known as
"Axion" Davies for his work in the
"Temple of Gloom". Escaping its frigid
environs, Davies enlisted in the corps of Field
Marshall James H. Hunter Jr. as a mere private in
the numerical computation division. Under
Hunter's expert tutelage, Davies' work eventually
was rewarded with the conferring of the coveted
Ph.D. in Physics for work in Numerical Modeling
of Galactic Disk Systems and a promotion to the
rank of Lieutenant. During this time, Davies also
recommitted himself to serving the Lord and
embarked on a study of scripture that has lead
him down a path of love and service. Also, on the Vernal
equinox of 1994, he married his beautiful and talented wife,
Kathy.
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Upon graduation, Chad
answered the call to the incredibly alliterative
Cloud County Community College in Concordia,
Kansas (you have to say it out loud for the best effect) where he taught Physics, Astronomy,
Meteorology, Physical Science, Computer Science, Mathematics and
Pool Cue Management. He was creator and Director of
the Earl Bane Public Observatory, faculty sponsor
for the Cloud Christian Fellowship and Assistant
General Manager of "The Thunder behind the
Cloud", KVCO. During his time at Cloud, Davies'
Engineering Physics class developed the college's first
Interdepartmental Ballistic Missile system (IDBM) thereby
sparking an arms race that ended only with the signing of the
Tactical Arms Reduction Treaty (TART) with the combined
departments of the Humanities Division. He was
also honored by being selected to Marquis' Who's Who
in Science and Engineering and nominated for inclusion in
Marquis' Who's Who in America.
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Missing
the friendly atmosphere of the south and its
warmer climate, Davies recently decided to
pursue his fortunes in Barnesville, Georgia. Accepting a position as Assistant Professor of
Physics at Gordon College, he has joined its
highly energetic and professional faculty at the
beginning of the new millennium (actually at the end of the last
one to be perfectly correct). Now teaching only physics
and astronomy,
Davies seeks to make the subject interesting and relevant to the
students who come to him from a myriad range of disciplines. In addition to his teaching responsibilities,
Davies also advises the College's student
organization, Gordon Christian Fellowship, serves on the Faculty
Senate, continues his work on bottle rocketry and studies
student attitudes about physics and an interesting variety of
other topics. When not wearing the hat of an educator,
Davies is most often found spinning his wheels on the country
roads and dirt trails of north and middle Georgia.
Occasionally given over to going fast, Chad has decided to dip
his toe into the waters of bicycle racing. Enjoying the
sufferfest that is time trialing, Davies has earned podium
placings in a number of regional championships as well as
competed in the USCF Masters Time Trial National Championship.
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If you've
managed to make it through to this point I congratulate
you. The icons are hot links to the schools they
represent, so if you'd like to browse, go ahead. A few
final comments before you go back to my home page. There
are a lot of people who helped me get to where I am
today, only a few of which I have mentioned in the above
tongue-in-cheek narrative. I could not have accomplished
anything without God and His unique Son, Jesus Christ,
dwelling in me through the Holy Spirit. To all those who
read this that are lost and alone in this world, look to
Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the
Light of the World that will guide you from the darkness.
Beyond that, I credit the fact that I am still sane and
happy to the love of my truly wonderful and talented wife
Kathy who has stood beside me though much of Graduate
School and the beginning of my career. The graphics work
on this web page is hers, attesting to her skills as a web designer.
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Peace, In Him
who saves us,
Chad
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