Physics at Pitt

I moved from my native India to Pitt as a twenty year old. I will describe how the physics department and several magnificent mentors got me started and shaped my life. Hail to Pitt! Jayanth Banavar is a theoretical physicist, currently holding the Knight Chair of Physics at the University of Oregon. Banavar has contributed to several areas of interdisciplinary research including ecology, protein science, river networks, spin glasses, and sub-continuum fluid mechanics. Banavar has served in university administration. He was the department head of physics at Penn State, the dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, and the Senior Vice President and provost at the University of Oregon.