Jose D. Garcia was born in Santa Fe, NM and received his B.S. degree in physics from New Mexico State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1966.
He has worked on a variety of areas of atomic physics studying the interactions between ions and atoms, between ions and surfaces, and other time-dependent collisions. Dr. Garcia is also active in physics education and improving science teaching. He was a member of the National Task Force for Undergraduate Physics (2000/04), a program designed to investigate characteristics of successful, sustaining undergraduate physics programs and what we could learn from these programs. This was the guiding body for the influential SPIN-UP reports – Strategic Programs in Undergraduate Physics: Project Report (AAPT, 2003) and Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics at Two-Year Colleges: Best Practices of Physics Programs (AAPT, 2005).
In addition, Jose D. Garcia served on the AAPT task force that rewrote the guidelines for assessing and evaluating undergraduate programs, Guidelines for Self-Study and External Evaluation of Undergraduate Physics Programs (AAPT, 2005). An interview with J.D. Garcia appears in the 75th anniversary booklet of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 75: Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence in Enhancing the Understanding and Appreciation of Physics Through Teaching (AAPT, 2006). He was eleced as the first president of the National Society of Hispanic Physicists in 1996.
Among his awards, Dr. Garcia is a Fellow of the APS and received the APS Edward A. Bouchet award in 1998. More biographical information can be found in the SACNAS Biography Project (https://www.sacnas.org/sacnas-biography-project/, referenced 13 May 2021)