Current instructor

Thad Walker

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.64/5 from 36 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PHY247 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Easily my favorite STEM professor at Madison so far. Funny and passionate dude who grades extremely fairly with a generous curve. Lots of small tests instead of big midterms. Lectures are never boring, but he does go on tangents fairly often.
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PHY247 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
What more could you ask when there is no midterm + 80 is a A + 50% of the grade is free if you do homeworks and go to labs?
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PHY247 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Prof Walker sometimes forgets what actually comes naturally to us, especially since some of us only took introductory HS physics before this course. He also goes on tangents unrelated to the lecture itself which can leave you wondering what you were supposed to learn. Otherwise, he is a super nice guy who really wants to help his students succeed!
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PHYS247 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 1/5
Nice guy but hard to follow. Very passionate but that often leads to tangents in lectures that involve physics way beyond what we knew. Lectures were a bit hard to follow and often not relevant to what was tested. Did his best to help with the grade/relieve pressure. Minimal homework, completion labs and generous curve.
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PHYS448 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Thad will tell you that everything in the class is easy which, in a sense, it is. However, it's only easy once you understand how to do it and he sometimes struggles to identify what students know and what comes easily/what doesn't. He cares about his students A LOT and wants to help Lectures start strong but get less helpful over time.
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PHYS448 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Great lectures, lots of short homework assignments, and several quizzes rather than more traditional exams. For learning about an infamously difficult subject like quantum mechanics, Prof Walker is a solid choice.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Thad Walker

Independent Study is a graduate-level mentored research project in physics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample
PHYSICS 990

Research

1–12 credits

Research supervised by individual faculty members. Students formulate and plan original research, creating work that contributes to the field of physics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027PHYSICS 499Directed Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027PHYSICS 799Independent Study
Spring 2027PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2026PHYSICS 799Independent Study
Fall 2026PHYSICS 990Research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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