Undoubtedly, one of the most difficult tasks for an instructor is teaching a subject that many students dread or — worse yet — have no interest in. So it’s a special professor indeed who not only manages to get his students to willingly come to class, but also piques their interest in the field.

 

“I believe that the most critical ingredient of a successful education is the personal relationship between a teacher and a student. I have learned over the years that once I establish a strong personal relationship with the students, they begin to learn by themselves,” said Arisaka. “Once students are self-motivated, they start to study in their own way and devote enormous amounts of time because they begin to love physics, rather than hate it.”

 

A high-energy astrophysicist, Arisaka teaches several classes at UCLA, including general astronomy and cosmology; undergraduate and graduate particle physics and cosmology for physics majors; and Physics 6B for life science majors, the class that probably garners Arisaka the most praise.

 

“Professor Arisaka was in a very interesting position as he taught our physics class for life science students,” wrote undergraduate Nora Bardakjian in her letter supporting Arisaka’s award nomination. “He had the difficult task of teaching students a subject matter that was not their passion. Yet he strove to integrate the life sciences into his physics class.

 

“He caught our attention from the very first day of class when he showed us two images, nearly identical: one of billions of stars and the other of billions of neurons. They were difficult to tell apart, and thus he made his first point: The smallest and most significant part of humans is reflected in the night sky, the largest and most magnificent part of our universe.”

 

The Academic Senate’s Committee on Teaching received many such heartfelt letters on behalf of Arisaka. But perhaps even more meaningful are the anonymous comments posted by students on www.bruinwalk.com, because they represent honest, unsolicited reviews:

 

“Dr. Arisaka always emphasized the fact that we have to learn physics — we can’t just memorize physics. Knowing and understanding the concepts really cut down my study time. He was also very passionate about his research, and his passion is really inspirational. He always encouraged us to keep on learning and to pursue our interests. Toward the end of the quarter, Dr. Arisaka kept thanking us for taking his class. No, Dr. Arisaka, thank you for teaching us so many valuable things!”

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