Sharon Montgomery, PhD

Dr. Sharon Montgomery is a Full Professor of physics in the Department of Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics at Pennsylvania Western University.  Formerly, she was Department Chair, Associate Provost, and the Director of General Education at PennWest Clarion. Over the years, she has served on Faculty Senate and its executive committee as well as the University Wide Curriculum Committee.  Dr. Montgomery was the 2019 recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award by the Clarion University Alumni Association for excellence in teaching and scholarship.  In 2020, Sharon was the recipient of the Outstanding Employee Award by the Clarion University Student Senate for her dedication and commitment to equity.  Sharon is an active researcher in the field of astrophysics and has authored many peer-reviewed journal articles.  She has competed and been granted observing time at McDonald Observatory in Texas, Cerro Tololo in Chile, and the South African Astronomical Observatory in South Africa.  Her current research interests revolve around the detection and characterization of comets within distant star systems.