The luck of the draw: Q&A with Penn State alumnus, physicist John Andrew Panitz

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In 1955, Erwin Wilhelm Müller, Evan Pugh Research Professor of Physics at Penn State, became the first person to “see” an atom, using a field ion microscope that he invented in Osmond Laboratory on the University Park campus. Müller’s research group went on to invent the atom-probe field ion microscope in 1967 — an atomic-resolution microscope that can reveal the chemical identity of individual atoms. 

Penn State alumnus John Andrew Panitz, who received his doctorate in physics in 1969 for his work on the atom-probe microscope, has donated several original atom-probe exhibits from his museum as well as a collection of the late Müller’s research materials to the Eberly College of Science. This includes Müller's field emission microscope — which was used to confirm the phenomenon of quantum mechanical tunneling — and the remaining parts of the original atom-probe field ion microscope.

They are now on display in Müller’s former office, 205 Osmond Lab. The local electrode atom probe, or LEAP, now on display in Osmond's lobby, was the first commercial atom probe manufactured by the Imago Scientific Instruments Corporation and sold to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2002. It was based on the 10-centimeter atom probe invented by Panitz in 1973.

In 1993, Panitz founded High-Field Consultants to provide expertise and training in high-field phenomena at the atomic level. For his achievements, he was awarded the 2025 Outstanding Science Alumni Award from the Eberly College of Science.

Panitz is now a professor emeritus of physics at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque. During his 16-year tenure, he was a professor of physics and an associate chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, a professor of high-technology materials and a professor of cell biology in the UNM School of Medicine. Panitz said he thought there was a great need for an undergraduate physics laboratory that encouraged critical thinking and role playing in the structured environment of cooperative learning groups. As a result, he created an undergraduate laboratory course called "Visual Electricity and Magnetism" that received the first U.S. National Science Foundation grant (DUE-9952274) for undergraduate education at UNM. Prior to joining UNM in 1988, he was a member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. 

Panitz also earned his bachelor and master degrees in physics from Penn State, in 1965 and 1965 respectively.

In this Q&A, Panitz discusses his work, his path toward becoming a physicist, and his time at Penn State.

Q: Can you tell me about your time at Penn State? I understand you met your late wife, Janda Kirk Griffith Panitz, at Penn State.

Panitz: Yes, I met Janda at Penn State, and the rest is history!

Penn State in the 1960s was different than it is now. My memories of my time at Penn State revolve around the people, two in particular: Beverly and Jay Politzer, fellow graduate students who were friends with Janda and myself. When Jay and Beverly had their first child, Brianna, Janda helped them care for it.

When it came time for Jay and I to get a technical job, which was difficult in the 1970s due to the Vietnam War, Jay worked in the computing center and set up a generic letter that we sent to a hundred organizations. I received one reply from Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. So, by being in the right place at the right time, I felt like I got the luck of the draw with the help of Jay.

Q: Can you tell me more about your experience and time working with Erwin Müller?

Panitz: Erwin Müller had one major philosophy, to never make something up. He always had to understand exactly what the issue was and then he had to solve the problem himself as an isolated individual. He also was usually caustic in his response when a technical issue arose. My association with Müller and my camaraderie with his technicians and the people in his lab who helped him, but rarely received credit, gave me the skills to eventually look at serious problems and solve them by myself.

Müller himself was well-known. When he came to Penn State in 1950, it was still known as the Pennsylvania State College. He brought his field emission microscope with him, and the history of that microscope, including its early confirmation of quantum mechanics. While at Penn State, Müller changed the polarity, added hydrogen and created the field ion microscope, becoming the first man to see an atom.

During my time with Müller, we occupied the third floor of Osmond building where we assembled instruments. Walking into one of our rooms, all you would see were two large track marks that went to the back of the room, because whenever we would get visitors, the atom-probe would be hidden.

I remember once when I had returned to Penn State, I said to Müller, “Erwin, I wonder,” and he blanched. Why? Well, no one had ever used his first name. People had always addressed him as “Professor Müller.” From then on, I could call him Erwin.

Erwin was well-known at meetings to say, "I did that 30 years ago." During another visit to Penn State, I asked him about that, and he said, "I'll show you," and opened a file cabinet with scores of unpublished papers that proved his point. Erwin never published a paper that he thought was trivial!

Eventually, once I left Penn State, Jerry Fowler, a technician in the lab, who I hired to work at Sandia with me, would visit Pennsylvania every summer and bring me artifacts back from the lab that were no longer in use. This left me with quite the collection after Müller had passed. I created a museum to display them.

Q: What drives you as a scientist? Is there something you have always wanted to pursue in your research? Where do you see your field going in the future?

Panitz: Currently, it’s my desire to do something productive and to keep busy. Many people have no clue what they’re going to do when they retire, but I think you should always keep busy and have something in mind about what you want to do. You need to trust your own judgement and go for it regardless of what the consequences are.

I’ve always wanted to develop an antigravity device; I’ve always thought it would be possible. One of Einstein’s proofs of relativity showed that starlight or electromagnetic radiation was bent by a gravitational field, and by reciprocity you should be able to reverse that. I wonder if just a high enough electric field could alter the acceleration of gravity, G. In Müller’s field emission microscope, the electric field is incredibly high. As a first step I’d like to use that microscope to measure G.

Right now, it’s hard to tell where the field will go in the future with the rise of AI [artificial intelligence] and social media. These technologies are changing the landscape of how information is being interpreted and distributed, and not always for the better.  

Q: What advice do you have for students today?

Panitz: Think for yourself, not by committee. Don’t rely on someone else to tell you what is true or not true. If you think it is right, then do it. That way you’ll never have anyone to blame but yourself. If you do what you yourself want to do, then it will be what it was for me, the best luck of the draw.