Matthew S Povich
Professor, Physics & Astronomy, College of Science
Brief Bio
Dr. Povich joined the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Cal Poly Pomona in Fall 2012. He is an observational astronomer specializing in multiwavelength (primarily infrared and X-ray) observations and modeling to study large-scale star-forming complexes in our Milky Way Galaxy.
Dr. Povich received his A.B. in Astronomy & Astrophysics from Harvard College in 2000. After graduating, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer math and physics teacher at Moshi Technical Secondary School in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, from 2000 to 2002. He attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning his M.S. in Astronomy (with a minor in Physics) in 2006 and Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2009. He further developed his research, education, and public outreach experience as an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the Pennsylvania State University from 2009 to 2012.
In addition to his regular faculty duties, Dr. Povich has served the College of Science (since 2021) as Faculty Fellow for Research. He also currently (2023-24) serves the entire CPP community as the STEM-NET Faculty Fellow. In these dual capacities, Dr. Povich is available to assist CPP faculty in all STEM-related fields with enhancing their research programs. This includes building collaborations across CPP or with other instutitions, securing internal and external resources, planning, developing and submitting funding proposals, and managing awarded grants.