Dr. John Mateja pursued his education in physics at the University of Notre Dame, receiving his B.S in 1972 and his Ph.D. in 1976. There, he began a career in experimental nuclear physics, investigating light heavy-ion reactions.

During this time, he also developed an interest of providing research experiences for undergraduates. At first, it was for his experience, turning a typical work-study appointment in the accelerator laboratory into an undergraduate research experience that resulted in his experiment being run on the accelerator. In graduate school, he started supervising undergraduates in the research lab, which eventually resulted in the publication of his first article with an undergraduate co-author. Dr. Mateja continued his work in experimental nuclear physics along with the supervision of undergraduates in a research setting during his post-doctoral appointment at Florida State University. He then joined the faculty at Tennessee Technological University. There, he developed one of the first research programs in the nation to involve physics undergraduates in research and one of a very small number of programs to be funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Division of Nuclear Physics. As one of his former students who is currently a university faculty member says, Dr. Mateja has “had a long and distinguished career working to better undergraduate education by involving undergraduates in research and to reinforce the connection between classroom teaching and laboratory experience.”

In 1988, he joined the staff at Argonne National Laboratory, where he had oversight responsibility for all undergraduate, graduate student and faculty outreach programs. These programs placed approximately 700 participants in the research laboratories of Argonne staff annually (approximately 500 of these participants were undergraduates). He then joined the staff at DOE headquarters in 1994 to co-manage a new grant program to assist non-competitive states to become more grant competitive for federal research funding – all the while emphasizing the importance of undergraduate involvement in research and the development of research opportunities for undergraduates. He assumed the position of Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Murray State University in 1998 and currently serves as the Director of Murray State’s Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA) office. As Dr. Mateja has done throughout his career, his mission at Murray State has been to promote undergraduate research and scholarly activity across the entire campus. Along with facilitating the acquisition of numerous individual and collaborative research awards, he established the URSA office thereby providing a mechanism in which to institutionalize research and other scholarly activity throughout campus, positioning Murray State to take a leadership role in undergraduate research within the state of Kentucky and the nation. For over 20 years, Dr. Mateja has been a leader at the national level in the movement to incorporate research and scholarship into the undergraduate educational experience. He has been the President of the Council on Undergraduate Research (as well as serving and chairing numerous CUR committees) and the Chair of the American Physical Society’s committee on Education. As one of his colleagues writes “It is evident through direct or indirect influence or academic lineage that John has started a small avalanche of undergraduate research programs. He has clearly put his mark on the undergraduate research community in physics and in many other scientific fields. … Perhaps one of John’s most important legacies to the community will be the influence he has had on those who are running excellent undergraduate research programs across the country. …”.