Grace Elena Méndez

Dr. Mendez retired in May 2017.

Dr. Elena Mendez was a professor of physics at Converse since the fall of 1990. She received her BS from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her PhD from Duke University. Her training is in experimental elementary particle physics and her dissertation dealt with the production of charm quarks during proton on proton collisions. More recently, her interests have shifted toward studying the relationship between science and religion. She has traveled to Belize, Guatemala, Australia and Costa Rica in order to study the cosmologies and astronomy of ancient cultures. Dr. Mendez and her students have been researching possible astronomical alignments of Costa Rican archaeological sites. She recently led a small research group, which included a Converse physics minor, to photograph a stellar alignment at the pre-Columbian site of Guayabo in Costa Rica. Read more about Dr. Mendez’s research in Costa Rica.