CLARKSVILLE, TN – For four weeks this summer, Austin Peay State University’s campus hosted some of Tennessee’s brightest high school students as they challenged themselves in the Governor’s School for Computational Physics—a program that connects theoretical physics and practical computing.
Every summer for the last 18 years, Austin Peay has been home to this program, taking some of the highest-achieving students in Tennessee and immersing them in an academic cocoon—designed to nurture, yes, but also challenge every thought they’ve ever had about physics, computing and mathematics. In 2026, APSU offered a new Governors School curriculum under Dr. Justin Oelgoetz, who took over the program this year with a fresh perspective.
Among this year’s cohort were Dream Kang from West High School in Knoxville, Karina Boyd from Westview High School, and Mina Malty from Smyrna High School. All rising seniors, they came with different backgrounds but shared curiosities about physics, mathematics, and computational problem-solving…