Arthur Congdon can do neither.
A brilliant Rutgers doctoral student in the disciplines of physics and astronomy, Congdon has muscular dystrophy, which has left him without the use of his arms and legs. He is also visually impaired. Despite these physical limitations, Congdon has been searching for evidence of the invisible – clumps of “dark matter” in space. His findings are helping scientists sort through the many theories on where this elusive matter is found, its origins and role in forming our Milky Way and other galaxies.
A love of science, an enthusiasm to share knowledge and the support of family and colleagues have kept Congdon moving forward, whether navigating the physical world, pursuing graduate study or, especially now, taking the next steps toward his goal of becoming an astronomy professor.
People who share more than a few moments with Congdon are quick to look past his physical limitations and get caught up in the brilliance he exudes and his drive to intellectually achieve what his able-bodied colleagues take for granted. When he leads a seminar, for example, he keeps all his notes in his head. In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, he delivers talks that rival those of his colleagues for content and presentation style.
Professor Charles Keeton, Congdon’s adviser, admitted that when he first started working with Congdon, he thought he’d have to limit the choices of projects he gave his student. Keeton soon learned otherwise. “We’d talk about projects, and Art found a way to do them,” he said.
Born in Philadelphia, Congdon moved to nearby Lansdowne when he was in middle school. That’s when he recognized his interest in science and began to focus on math and physics. “I liked the reasoning that goes into physics and the way it uses math to answer questions,” he said. “There were no other scientists in the family, but my parents were supportive of what I wanted to do and what I chose.”
His mother, Jennifer Knight, who is blind, was especially inspiring. “She helped me cultivate a positive attitude, to know that within reason I could do everything I wanted to,” Congdon said. “I grew up in a time when it was easier for disabled people, but she didn’t. She could relate to me.”
As an undergraduate physics major at Temple University, he appreciated the individual attention that his professors provided. They also encouraged him to pursue graduate education. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2001 and came to Rutgers in the fall of 2002.
Congdon’s studies involved gravitational lensing, a principle with roots in Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Massive objects such as galaxies can act like giant lenses and bend light with their gravity. Invisible dark matter contributes significantly to this pull. The lensing patterns that astronomers see reveal how much dark matter there is in a galaxy and how it is distributed.
For his dissertation, Congdon created theoretical models to interpret observations of gravitational lensing and test what theorists predict about the structure of dark matter. His work supports theories that dark matter occurs in “clumps,” weighing from a million to a billion times more than our sun, and that it is not distributed smoothly throughout galaxies.
Members of the astronomy faculty are quick to praise Congdon’s achievements, citing his published papers, talks he has given at institutions including New York University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and unsolicited feedback they’ve received from colleagues at these institutions. During his first year in graduate school, Congdon received a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowship for three years of financial support. At the time, he was the only NSF fellow among some 100 graduate students in the Rutgers Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Of course, Congdon needed physical accommodations to navigate the life of a graduate student on campus. The university assigned him a wheelchair-accessible family apartment with space for his caretaker and parking for his van. After finishing his course work, he moved back home and did most of his dissertation work there, but traveled to campus frequently for meetings and seminars.
Congdon hired students to read and write the complex mathematical equations that text-to-speech software can’t negotiate. As he’s quick to observe, this turned into a win-win situation. “As they worked with me, they became collaborators in my research, which helped them in their careers,” Congdon said. “Some even became co-authors on my papers.”
Congdon is already pursuing the next step in his career – searching for postdoctoral positions that will prepare him for a faculty research and teaching career. In the meantime, however, he is enjoying some leisure activities – an unaffordable luxury while he was completing his dissertation. “I need to convince myself that relaxation is a good thing. Winter was work season, but now it’s time for me to get outside,” he said. The new Ph.D. is also setting aside his scientific journals to read Don Quixote, which he describes as the ultimate break from work. “Sixteenth-century Spain is about as far from my world as anything I can think of.”
Media Contact: Carl Blesch
732-932-7084, ext. 616
E-mail: cblesch@ur.rutgers.edu