About the Author Professor Benjamin Bloch has been an insider at high schools and colleges for more than thirty years. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics; a professional degree in education; permanent certification 9 – 12 in math, physics, and science; and certification as a supervisor/administrator in New York State. Dr. Bloch’s industrial experience includes the Grumman Aerospace Corporation and a scientific mission to the North Pole. Throughout his wild career, Doc Bloch has received his greatest pleasures from being active in the lives of his family and students.

More about the Man behind Marduk:

Early Years in Music

Benjamin Bloch started out as a violinist, graduating from The High School of Music and Art in New York. He then became concertmaster and soloist with the New York Junior Symphony Orchestra and he held a full scholarship at the Third Street Settlement School where he was taught by Leon Temerson of the New York Philharmonic and performed in that orchestra under the baton of Julius Rudell. Ben went on to the City College of New York, performing in their orchestra and earning a B.S. degree in physics.

 

 Industrial Endeavors

Ben then entered Columbia University as a Research Assistant in their radiation labs. Later while working in Columbia’s Hudson Laboratories, he was sent to the North Polar Region by the Office of Naval Research to perform underwater noise correlation studies aimed at nuclear submarine detection.
 
Ben’s next position was as a project engineer at The Bendix Corporation, developing solid-state electronic power systems.
 
He then joined General Precision Inc. as a unit head of the Nuclear Vulnerability Group, where he was responsible for setting up and testing guidance and control systems in a Flash X-Ray unit designed to replicate part of the radiation environment of a nuclear blast. He also conducted tests on thin film and bulk semiconductor materials.
 
Next, as staff physicist at the Grumman Aerospace Corporation, Ben conducted an overall analysis of electrical propulsion and power systems for space vehicles and developed a novel technique for maintaining sterilization of a Planetary Lander during separation from the orbiting module.
 
While at Grumman Ben earned his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in the Quantum Theory of Scattering; his thesis is titled “Atomic L-Shell Compton Profiles and Incoherent Scattering Factors.”

Academia

In addition to all this practical experience, Dr. Bloch is no stranger to the halls of academia. In fact he has taught every level of college and high school math and physics.

He began his teaching career as an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, at New York Institute of Technology, and at C.W. Post Center/Long Island University where he taught physics and programs for gifted young people. He also taught musical physics at Hofstra University, and for thirty years he taught as adjunct professor of physics at Polytechnic University. He is also the founding advisor and member of Omega Phi Alpha, an engineering society at Polytechnic University. He’s been honored to officiate at many of the ceremonies and functions of its brothers and sisters who have gone on to wonderful careers.
 
Dr. Bloch recently retired from his day career of science teacher and professor at Commack High School where he taught advanced placement and university level courses in physics and mathematics. There he also mentored other teachers and developed popular courses in unexplained phenomena and stone structures, capturing students who want to learn science without math. His last teaching assignment was to teach physics and mathematics at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.

Personally
 
While at Commack High School Dr. Bloch took his students to the former Soviet Union, returning there three years later with another set of students for a US-Soviet Union volleyball match. In the interim he helped many Refusnik families leave the USSR and resettle in the US and Israel. These families have successfully integrated into our society, and Michael Jaffe, Ph.D. Physics at MIT, is setting the stage for their many accomplishments.
 
In print it seems that Dr. Bloch’s greatest achievement would be receiving a Merrill Scholarship award from Cornell University as the high school teacher who most influenced Jamie Kohen, a Merrill Scholar. In truth, Dr. Bloch is equally proud when he sees even more of his students outpace him scholastically and socially (and financially!). Dr. Bloch says, “My highest reward is to leave behind better than myself.”
 
When he is not playing the violin, kayaking, or discussing Kabbalah, his greatest enjoyments are his family and especially his grandkids.

Dr. Bloch’s favorite quote: “People are our most important product.”