John LaSala is a resident of Wilmington, NC, who has been teaching science-based courses at the local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute since 2013. He is a 1972 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holds a doctorate in Applied Physics from Stanford University. He served as a US Army Corps of Engineer officer, Professor of Physics and Director of the Photonics Laboratory at West Point and Director of Product Development at startup and Fortune 500 companies. His love of teaching and physics has followed him into retirement, and the OLLI program has provided the perfect opportunity to share his knowledge of science and technology, obtained over a lifetime of study and practice, with curious members of the Wilmington community.