Sara was born in LaMoure, ND, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She lived much of her life in Minneapolis, MN. Like many of the people in that area, Sara is descended from sturdy Scandinavian stock. However, if you can get her alone, she might admit to enjoying spicy food. Sara attended college at Hamline University, graduating in 1992 with a BA in physics. She moved to Ames, IA to attend graduate school at Iowa State University, graduating in 1995 with a MS in condensed matter physics. Sara has worked for the last two years at Iowa Thin Film Technologies fabricating flexible solar cells. Somehow in the midst of her hectic schedule she found time to get married and spend her honeymoon backpacking across Scotland. Sara enjoys camping and hiking, but her real avocation is playing with horses, especially Peruvian Pasos.
Jonathan was born in Flemington, NJ, but immediately set out for the dark continent of Africa. Soon thereafter, he learned to walk in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. An old Arab proverb says "Drink of Nile water and you will return to drink it again." Evidently, the same applies to the water in Addis Ababa. Returning to the states, Jonathan's father, Charles, taught for 10 years at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. In the late seventies, as the Steelers prepared to win their fourth Super Bowl, Charles Partee moved his family to Pittsburgh, PA. While Charles probably considered the state of the NFL franchise, the fact that he was offered a position at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary played no small role. Jonathan attended the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH, graduating in 1991 with a BA in physics. He graduated with a Ph.D. in physics at Iowa State University 5 1/2 years later. Jonathan likes to play football, softball and racquetball in addition to bagging highpoints.
Testimonies
Read what the June 1998 Ames Lab Insider writes about us:
See what the Tuesday June 2, 1998 Des Moines Register has to say about us:
Page 1 (141kb), Page 2 (62kb) or Text Only.
See what the Tuesday February 19, 1998 Ames Tribune has to say about us:
