Shooting for the stars, Jamar Kittling ’20 went from a student at Archbishop Riordan to a student at Stanford University pursuing a PhD in physics.

Kittling attended Riordan from 2016 until 2020, where he was in the Marching Band, National Honors Society, History Bowl, a reporter and an editor for The Crusader, and a part of the Achieve Program.

Kittling was not only just a student of Riordan, but an important part of it as well. Through his work in The Crusader, Kittling made waves through his work as a News Editor.

Susan Sutton, MJE, adviser for The Crusader, noted, “From the first day of his freshman year at Riordan, I knew Jamar was destined for greatness. His natural intelligence, amiable personality, and sharp wit made him a standout student in the classroom.”

Throughout his years at Riordan, Kittling said that the school allowed for a change of self, as coming into Riordan, he described himself as “a small
kid who wanted to study space because it was cool and didn’t think about much else.”

But after some time, through talking and debating with different students about anything and everything, it allowed Kittling to gain “a strong interest in philosophy and physics as well as astronomy.”

Dean of Academics Diana Assereto described him as, “such a stand up guy. A real quality human. Nice to everyone, very academic, very interested in learning, and just a great student to have as a member of the student body.”

After graduating Riordan, Kittling attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut majoring in Astronomy and Physics. At Wesleyan, Kittling explored the research opportunities available after finding out about the impact original scientific research had on applications for graduate school.

Working with Professor Meredith Hughes, Associate Professor of Astronomy at Wesleyan University, he researched circumstellar disks, which carried into his work in his late-undergraduate work.

“My senior thesis for instance describes how the research group uses radio telescope observations to measure the density structure
of debris disks (i.e. evolved circumstellar disks analogous to our solar system’s Asteroid and Kuiper belts).”

In 2024, Kittling was awarded the Littell Prize, which is described by Wesleyan University, as being for students that had “excellence in one or more advanced courses in astronomy.”

After graduating from Wesleyan, Kittling began to pursue a PhD in physics at Stanford University.

Kittling is in his first year at Stanford University and a part of the EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) Fellowship, which is for doctoral students.

Currently, Kittling is rotating as a first year student, and does not have a main focus or project yet for his PhD. In his rotations, though, he’s worked with Dr. Aaron Roodman, the Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics at Stanford, on calibrating a detector for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and working with Dr. Zeeshan Ashmed, Associate Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics at Stanford University on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB).

Further with the CMB, Kittling noted that, “The idea behind this project is seeing if the large-scale distribution of dark matter correlates with the gamma-ray
background. If so, it may support theories where dark matter could emit gamma-rays.”

One challenge Kittling commented on for PhD beginners is the responsibilities they had to juggle with a major research focus, then teaching responsibilities,
and finally doing classwork.

Don’t be discouraged because of this though, as Kittling advises those interested in pursuing physics to, “focus on getting into a good college,” and that he “recommend[s] taking lots of AP courses (not necessarily just the science ones), being committed to finding one or two meaningful extracurricular activities (i.e. sports, band, or newspaper), getting into a good college, and finding meaningful internships during the summer.”

Kittling wanted to remind Riordan students that, “even if you have an academic goal, it’s important to not let it take up your whole life. Make sure to have fun in high school while you still can.”

Kittling’s pursuit of a PhD, from Riordan’s breezeway to Stanford’s overarching branches, shows the excellence of hard work, persistence, and leadership. Sutton said, “His peers always migrated toward him. They valued his opinion and respected his intellect.”

Continuing to use his cosmic determination, Kittling’s work will further establish him as one of Riordan’s many stars.