»MPP Graduate Student Profiles
Doctor of Science in Mathematics, Philosophy and Physics
Chapman University | Schmid College of Science and Technology
Fall 2026 Cohort
Leonard Fowler
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
Doctoral Supervisor: Jose Gil-Ferez
James Hubble
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
B.S., Physics (Honours, Co-op), Magna Cum Laude, University of Ottawa
M.S., Physics Concentration in Quantum Science, University of Ottawa
Doctoral Supervisor: Ebrahim Karimi

Salash Nabaala
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
M.Sc. Mathematics, Florida State University
B.A. Joint Concentration in Mathematics and Physics, Harvard University
Research interests: Higher category theory (both analytic and synthetic approaches) and derived noncommutative algebraic geometry
Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger
Tommaso Peripoli
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Philosophy
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
Docoral Supervisor: Marco Panza
Francisco Ruz
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
B.S., Applied Physics, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
B.S., Physics Engineering, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
Rob Schellingerhout
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline:
Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger
Li-Yu Shen
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
Fall 2025 Cohort

Will Benston
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Philosophy
Secondary Discipline: Physics
Ph.D., Philosophy of Physics
B.S., Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology; B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Georgia
Institute of Technology
M.S., Theoretical Physics, Stockholm University
Research interests: Emergence, Quantum Gravity Foundations, Quantum Foundations, Philosophy of Mind
Doctoral Supervisor: Emily Adlam

Haorui Chen
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
M.S., Theoretical Physics, Sun Yat-sen University
B.S., Physics, Shandong University
Research interests: Quantum multiparameter estimation; quantum measurement
Doctoral Supervisor: Andrew Jordan

Dennis Frieberg
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger

Talitha (Tally) Holcombe
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
M.S., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Chapman University
B.S., Biology, Chapman University
Research interests: Formalization and formal verification; proof assistants; LLM-assisted proof generation; Frame Theory; theoretical computer science
Doctoral Supervisor: Alexander Kurz

Ricardo Silva
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
B.Sc., Computer Science, Northumbria University
M,Sc., Mathematics and Computing, Universidade do Minho
Research interests: Quantum Information, Quantum Foundations, Quantum Computing
Doctoral Supervisor: Matthew Leifer

Spencer Woolfson
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
M.S., Logic, Computation, and Methodology, Carnegie Mellon University
M.A., Logic and Philosophy of Science, The Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy
B.A., Hamilton College
Research interests: Category Theory, Type Theory, Homotopy theory, Logic, and Computer Formalizations
Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger
Fall 2024 Cohort

Lucas Burns
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
B.A., Physics, Oberlin College
M.S., Computational and Data Science, Chapman University
Research interests: Quantum foundations, Relativistic gauge theories, Philosophy of perception, Clifford/geometric algebras
Doctoral Supervisor: Justin Dressel
James Francese
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Physics
Doctoral Supervisor: Mihaela Vajiac

Muxi Liu
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
M.A., Physics, Stony Brook University
B.A., Physics, Reed College
Research interests: Quantum foundations, quantum control
Doctoral Supervisor: Andrew Jordan

Miguel Trejo Huerta
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
Master's Degree, Philosophy of Science (Philosophy of Mathematics and the Logic of
Science), National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City
Bachelor’s Degree, Philosophy, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico City
Research interests: Logic; category theory; lattice theory; non-classical logics; type theory
Doctoral Supervisor: M. Andrew Moshier
Fall 2023 Cohort
Adithi Ajith
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
BS-MS Dual degree in Physics with a minor degree in Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Research interests: Theory of quantum measurements, quantum thermodynamics, quantum control theory
Doctoral Supervisor: Andrew Jordan

Daniel Dominic Briseno-Colunga
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
M.S., Computational and Data Sciences, Chapman University
B.Sc., Computer Science, Chapman University
B.Sc., Mathematics, Chapman University
Research interests: Superconducting circuits, Driven quantum circuits, Open quantum systems and quantum thermodynamics, Quantum error correction, Efficient high-dimensional simulation of quantum systems, Continuous measurements of quantum systems
Doctoral Supervisor: Justin Dressel

Benjamin Faltesek
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Philosophy
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics
M.A., Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
B.A., History and Philosophy, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Mathematical necessity; constructions of the natural numbers and other structures; modal structuralism; unificationism in scientific explanation; semantic antirealism
Doctoral Supervisor: Marco Panza
Melissa Sugimoto
MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy
ALGANT Master's Program: Double Degree Program with the University of Padua and Leiden
University
B.S., Mathematics, Chapman University
Doctoral Supervisor: Peter Jipsen