2024 Distinguished Alumni Honoree Dr. Joseph Sagerer

Dr. Joseph Sagerer continues to draw inspiration from his experiences at Harper College for his notable career in higher education. As a senior lecturer and researcher at Dominican University in River Forest, he seeks to challenge and mentor his students as they pursue their studies in physics.

“To this day, I recall my chemistry course during my first year at Harper,” he said. “The lab experiments and reports challenged me and introduced me to a new way of thinking about data and analysis. This formed the foundation of how I approach problems in my research. Today, I try to challenge my students in a similar way.”

Sagerer earned associate degrees in both arts and science from Harper in 1997, a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Eastern Illinois University, and a master’s and doctorate in physics from University of Illinois Chicago.

In recent years, Sagerer has participated in research involving the Maya Temple of Kukulkan, near Chichén Itzá, Mexico. He is working on studying the pyramid using a ray muon detector that’s under construction and his research has been referenced in peer-reviewed journals. He received a National Science Foundation grant in 2020, and students accompanied him to Mexico for research in 2022.

Sagerer is also a faculty mentor in “Vamos A Fermilab,” an outreach program at Batavia’s Fermilab that encourages Latine students to study the STEM disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Knowing that students in his classroom learn at different paces informs his teaching methods. “As a quiet, introverted student, I tried not to stand out in class,” Sagerer said. “Now as an instructor, I try to be certain I am teaching to all my students.”

Sagerer’s expertise in education inspires his leadership of the Board of Education for School District 59 (Elk Grove Village). For three-plus years, he also served on the Governing Board of the Northwest Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO), a special education cooperative.

“Ultimately, school boards are most effective when they have a variety of viewpoints,” he said. “I think my analytical approach is a good complement to other board members.”

The true rewards of his dedication to teaching come when his students succeed. “To see them grow from when I first met them into who they are is inspiring,” he said. “To know I played some small part in that is an unbeatable feeling of pride and joy.”