Letter Brendan Mullan Summer 2026

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to evaluate Dr. Brendan Mullan for reappointment as Associate Teaching Professor. My recommendation is straightforward: Brendan is clearly above the bar for reappointment.

My contact with Brendan comes from the Modern Physics Laboratory, which we have taught together for three semesters: Spring 2024, Fall 2024, and Fall 2025. Brendan coordinates the course. He gives the introductory lectures and shares the running of the experiments with me.

Brendan is well organized. MPL is a logistically complicated course — many independent experiments running in parallel, with students rotating through them — and under Brendan's coordination it runs smoothly.

His introductory lectures are well received. The students seem to genuinely like them, and they arrive at the experiments prepared. These lectures are harder than they look: each one has to give students practical grounding to make real progress on the experiments, much of the material arrives just in time.

I have also been impressed with how quickly Brendan came up to speed on the advanced experiments. These are real experiments, and making them work, and teaching students to make them work, requires genuine understanding of both the physics and the apparatus. Brendan got there faster than I expected.

Finally, Brendan and I have had several productive discussions on grading philosophy and on how hard to push the students in the lab. I found his views pragmatic and consistently focused on the student experience. He thinks carefully about what the course is actually for, which is exactly what I want in the person coordinating it.

Based on three semesters of teaching alongside him, I fully support Brendan's reappointment as Associate Teaching Professor. I would be happy to provide further input if useful.

Sincerely,

John Alison, Professor of Physics

1. Known from MPL taught with:

   • Fall 2025
   • Fall 2024
   • Spring 2024

Coordinates the Lab / Gives introductory lectures and shares the running of the experiments with me Well Organized and the students seem to like his lectures

Ive been impressed with how quickly he has come up to speed on various advanced experiements

I have had several productive discussions with him on grading philosophy and how hard we shoudl push the students in the lab. I found his views to pragmatic and focused on the student exerience