BIOGRAPHY
Dr. W. Scott McCullough lived in the Republic of Yemen, where he taught physics and worked in educational development, prior to coming to IWU. He is married to Anna, and they have 4 mostly adult children. He enjoys reading and speaking Arabic, woodworking, hiking, and playing Ultimate, which he hopes to play professionally when he grows up.
RESEARCH
Dr. McCullough’s research is in computational biophysics. His students use the method of molecular dynamics to simulate the behavior of biomolecules. His current project is the simulation of small molecule candidates to inhibit the SHP-2 enzyme, an important cell enzyme that regulates cell growth. This work is a collaboration with two IWU chemistry faculty, Dr. Stephen Leonard and Dr. Nate Kitzmiller. In addition to the connections with biology and chemistry, this project draws on computer science, mathematics, and statistics.
To carry out these simulations, the department has two professional level Linux workstations and access to a computing cluster in the Department of Chemistry.
INTEGRATION OF FAITH & SCIENCE
Dr. McCullough also does research and writes about the intersection between science and the Christian faith to help students and colleagues thrive in both their faith and scientific work.
PHD
Theoretical Physics
Purdue University , 1988
MSC
Physics
Purdue University , 1985
BA
Mathematics; Physics
Emporia State University , 1981
Peer-reviewed journal articles:
• Gartenhaus, S., and W. S. McCullough.
“Phenomenology and neglect of irrelevant variables for ferromagnetic systems.”
Physical Review B 35 (7), 3299–3306, 1987.
• Gartenhaus, S., and W. S. McCullough.
“Higher order corrections for the quadratic Ising lattice susceptibility at criticality.”
Physical Review B 38 (17), 11688–11703, 1988.
• McCullough, W. S., and H. L. Scott.
[Title not available in the sources accessed; article on a chiral clock model.]
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 22, 4463–4475, 1989. DOI: 10.1088/0305-4470/22/20/022.
• McCullough, W. S., and H. L. Scott.
“Statistical-mechanical theory of the ripple phase of lipid bilayers.”
Physical Review Letters 65 (7), 931–934, 1990.
• McCullough, W. S., J. H. H. Perk, and H. L. Scott.
“Analysis of a model for the ripple phase of lipid bilayers.”
Journal of Chemical Physics 93 (8), 6070–6080, 1990.
• Scott, H. L., and W. Scott McCullough.
“Theories of the modulated ‘ripple’ phase of lipid bilayers.”
International Journal of Modern Physics B 5 (16–17), 2479–2497, 1991.
• McCullough, W. S.
“Mean-field transfer-matrix analysis of the p-state chiral clock model.”
Physical Review B 46, 5084, 1992.
• Scott, H. L., and W. S. McCullough.
“Lipid–cholesterol interactions in the Pβ′ phase: Application of a statistical mechanical model.”
Biophysical Journal 64 (5), 1398–1404, 1993.
