Career Opportunites Our goal is to help you develop the skills you need to establish a rewarding and productive career. There are many options, depending on your talents and interests. You can fashion our flexible curriculum to suit your needs. Traditional career choices include research in government, industrial, or university laboratories. Many of our students continue on to the best graduate schools to study physics, astronomy, mathematics, or engineering; others have gone on to successful careers in medicine, technical management, law, investment banking, and teaching.

	Jeffrey Kodosky ’70 co-founded National Instruments in 1976 and subsequently served as the company’s Vice President of Research and Development. He was named an NI Business and Technology Fellow in 2000, and also serves on Rensselaer’s board of trustees.
	Heidi Newberg ’87 earned her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992 and is now a Physics faculty member at Rensselaer. Her research and teaching focuses on galactic and extragalactic astronomy, and she frequently represents the interests of women in science.
	Cynthia Landberg ’89 started at the GE Global Research center after completing her Ph.D. at Rensselaer in 1995, where she continues to work on the physics and technology of imaging. She is now manager of the X-ray systems laboratory, where her group includes physicists and engineers.
	James Cronen ’96 worked on educational materials development as a student and has recently returned to teaching science in the Capital District after experiences working as a programmer in New York and Boston.
	John Marsh ’03 stayed at Rensselaer and is now earning his Ph.D. in Economics. He does research on the productivity of the U.S. undergraduate education system and the effects of federal support on stimulating research.

Placement of Recent Rensselaer Graduates in Physics

Graduate studies in Computer Science
Graduate studies in Aero, Florida Institute of Technology
Graduate studies in Applied Math, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Physics,  UC Irvine
Technical employment with Plug Power
Graduate studies in Physics, Rensselaer
Employment as a high school instructor
Graduate studies in Law, Harvard
Graduate studies in Physics, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Physics, England
Graduate studies in Physics, Cornell
Graduate studies in Electrical Engineering, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Electrical Engineering, Rensselaer
Premedical program
Graduate studies in Electrical Engineering, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Physics, U Arizona
Nontechnical employment
Technical employment (Electrical Engineering)
Technical Employment (Computer Science)

Graduate studies in Materials Science, Penn State
Graduate studies in Biophysics, Harvard
Graduate studies in Interdisciplinary Science, Rensselaer
Microelectronics Clean Room Technician, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Meteorology, UCLA
Graduate studies in Oceanography, U Rhode Island
Graduate studies in Physics, Rensselaer
Financial advisor with Waddell & Reed, Albany/li>
Graduate studies in Physics, Rensselaer
Graduate studies in Computer Science, U Oregon
Graduate studies in Physics, NYU
Graduate studies in Physics, Virginia Tech
Graduate studies in Astronomy, Cornel
Graduate studies in Physics, Dartmouth
Boeing
Graduate studies in Physics, U Minnesota
Graduate studies in Mathematics, Tulane
Medical school
Graduate studies in Physics, U Texas at Austin
Graduate studies in Optics, CREOL at U Central Florida
National Instruments, Austin TX
Graduate studies in Materials Science, U New Mexico