Dr. Heidi R. Ries
Provost, Chief Academic Officer and Professor of Physics
Dr. Heidi R. Ries joined the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 1999 and currently serves as the Provost and Chief Academic Officer. During her previous service as AFIT’s chief research officer, Dr. Ries implemented the establishment of research centers yielding over 800% increase in external funding and enhancing AFIT’s reputation in the areas of cyber, directed energy, navigation, nuclear detection and analysis, operational analysis, space, and technical intelligence. She also holds an academic appointment as Professor of Physics and served AFIT as Interim Dean, Graduate School of Engineering and Management in 2013.
Dr. Ries previously served as Professor of Physics and Director of the Center for Materials Research at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA, where she enabled the school’s first master’s degree program in the sciences, attracted $3M/year in external funding, served as an Associate Director of the Applied Research Center at Jefferson Lab, and directed the National Science Foundation Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology project “Center for Photonic Materials Research.”
Dr. Ries volunteers as a member of the Martin University Board of Trustees, where she serves as the Chair, Academic Affairs Committee. She is a member and previous chair of the Engineering and Science Foundation of Dayton Board of Trustees and is a member of the Team Chair Corps of the Higher Learning Commission. She previously served as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Society for Engineering Education’s Engineering Research Council Board of Directors, a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, and AFIT Liaison to the Ohio Aerospace Institute Board of Trustees. She was also a parent-coach for the Centerville City Schools Science Olympiad Team.
Dr. Ries was recognized by the Dayton Daily News as one of the region’s 2009 Ten Top Women, was the Air Force’s civilian winner of the 2011 Department of Defense Women's History Month Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Role Model Award, received the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and was the 2022 inductee into The Ohio State University at Marion Alumni Hall of Fame.
Education
1982 Bachelor of science degree in physics, (summa cum laude with distinction in physics), The Ohio State University, Ohio
1984 Master of science degree in physics, The Ohio State University, Ohio
1987 Doctor of philosophy in applied physics, Old Dominion University, Virginia, with dissertation research conducted at NASA Langley Research Center
Awards
The Ohio State University at Marion Alumni Hall of Fame (2022)
Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award (2013)
Air Force winner of the 2011 Department of Defense Women's History Month Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Role Model Award, Civilian category
Air Force winner of the 2011 National Latina Distinguished Service Award
Ten Top Women Award (Dayton Daily News, 2009)
Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2008)
Publications
“Microwave response near zero magnetic field in transition-metal-doped silicate glasses” R.R. Rakhimov, H.R. Ries, D.E. Jones, L.B. Glebov, and L.N. Glebova. Appl. Phys. Lett. 76 (6) pp. 751-753 (2000)
"Spin dynamics of the triplet Cr4+ in the vicinity of energy level anti-crossing". R. R. Rakhimov, H. R. Horton, D. E. Jones, G. B. Loutts, and H. R. Ries. Chem. Phys. Lett. (319) 5-6 (2000) pp. 639-644
“Spin and valence states of manganese ions in manganese-doped yttrium orthoaluminate” Rakhim R. Rakhimov, Amy L. Wilkerson, George B. Loutts, Mikhail A. Noginov, Natalia Noginova, Walter Lindsay, and Heidi R. Ries, Solid State Communications Vol. 108 (8) pp. 549-554 (1998)
“Manganese-doped yttrium orthoaluminate: A potential material for holographic recording and data storage” G.B. Loutts, M. Warren, L. Taylor, R.R. Rakhimov, H.R. Ries, G. Miller, III; M.A. Noginov, M. Curley, N. Noginova, N. Kukhtarev, H.J. Caulfield, P. Venkateswarlu. Phys. Rev. B 57 (7) 3706-3709 (1998)
“Off-axis extra lines in powder pattern electron paramagnetic resonance of Cr3+ in YAlO3” R.R. Rakhimov, A.L. Wilkerson, G.B. Loutts, and H. R. Ries, J. Appl. Phys. 82 (4) 1970-1972 (1997)
“Crystal growth, spectroscopic characterization, and laser performance of a new efficient laser material Nd:Ba5(PO4)3F” G.B. Loutts, C. Bonner, C. Meegoda, H. Ries, M.A. Noginov, N. Noginova, M. Curley, P. Venkateswarlu, A. Rapaport, and M. Bass, Applied Physics Letters 71(3) 303 (1997) (selected for inclusion in the SPIE’s Milestone Series of Selected Reprints on the subject Laser Crystal Growth, Robert Uhrin, editor)
“Neodymium Doped Barium Fluorapatite: A New Efficient Laser Material” G.B. Loutts, C. Bonner, C. Meegoda, H. Ries, M.A. Noginov, N. Noginova, M. Curley, P. Venkateswarlu, A. Rapaport, M. Bass. OSA Trends in Optics and Photonics, Vol. 10, C.R. Pollock and W.R. Bosenberg, eds., Optical Society of America, Washington, DC 1997, pp. 440-443
“Transpiring Cooling of a Scram-Jet Engine Combustion Chamber” Sang H. Choi, Stephen J. Scotti, Kyo D. Song and Heidi Ries 32nd Thermophysics Conference June 23-25, 1997 Atlanta, Georgia American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA-97-2576
"Dielectric Analysis for Polymer Processing" Kristen T. Kern, Heidi R. Ries, and Edward R. Long, Jr. J. Mater. Educ., 16(4), 293 (1994). Also presented at the National Educators' Workshop NEW: Update '94 Nov. 6-9, 1994 held at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD; and 1995 ASEE Conference Proceedings, Session 1564
"Dielectric Determination of the Glass Transition Temperature (Tg)" Heidi R. Ries J. Mater. Educ., 12(4), 325 (1990)
"Mechanism of Electrical Conductivity in an Irradiated Polyimide" H.R. Ries, W.L. Harries, S.A.T. Long, and E.R. Long, Jr., J. Phys. Chem. of Solids 50, 735 (1989)
"Studies of Radiation Effects in Three High Polymers" H.R. Ries Ph.D. Dissertation, available from University Microfilms International (now ProQuest), Ann Arbor, MI (1987)
"Electron-Radiation Effects on the AC and DC Electrical Properties and Unpaired Electron Densities of Three Aerospace Polymers" S.A.T. Long, E.R. Long, Jr., H.R. Ries, and W.L. Harries IEEE Trans. Nuclear Sci. NS-33, 1390 (1986)