Clair Kochis

Clair Kochis is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Kenai Peninsula College, which is part of the University of Alaska Anchorage system. She teaches both distance and face-to-face mathematics courses at the Kenai River Campus, with office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm in the Walter E. Ward Building (WWB) 217.

Dr. Kochis earned her educational credentials from several institutions:

• M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University (2008)
• M.S. in Physics from Colorado State University, Fort Collins (2002)
• B.S. in Physics with a minor in Mathematics from University of North Carolina at Wilmington (1995)
• A.A. in General Education from Brunswick Community College (1992)

Her research and teaching interests span a broad range of mathematical and physical disciplines. Dr. Kochis specializes in applied mathematics from algebra through differential equations, linear algebra, and modern algebra. She also has expertise in applied general physics, modern physics, and quantum physics. Her background in physics research included studying the energy states of High-L atomic collisions using atomic spectroscopy and a MOTRIMS device she designed.

Dr. Kochis has received several professional recognitions including Quality Matters certification for her College Algebra course in 2013, the Walter Schmid Excellence in Physics Award in 1995, and second place in the Robert Ruark Poetry Contest in 1995. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Mu Epsilon honor societies.

Before entering academia, Dr. Kochis had a career as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer for Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies. She began teaching at Kenai Peninsula College as an adjunct professor in 2009 and became a full-time term faculty member in 2010. From 2012-2014, she created math content for two self-paced open access courses in prealgebra and beginning algebra as part of the TAACCCT grant program.