»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 headshot

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 headshotFrancisco 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

Research interests: Quantum Optics, Topological light, Mathematical Physics
 
Doctoral Supervisor: Ebrahim Karimi
 

 

 

Rob Schellingerhout

MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: 

Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger

 

 

Li-Yu Shen headshotLi-Yu Shen

MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Physics
Secondary Discipline: Mathematics

M.S., Electrical engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
B.S., Physics, National Chiayi University, Taiwan
 
Research interests: Quantum optics, Quantum Imaging
 
Doctoral Supervisor: Ebrahim Karimi

 




Fall 2025 Cohort

Will Benston headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot

Dennis Frieberg

MPP D.Sc. student
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Secondary Discipline: Philosophy 

Doctoral Supervisor: Jonathan Weinberger

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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 headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot

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 headshot


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

 

 


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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