After earning a B.S. from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Lehigh University, Professor Ammirati joined the College in 1969 and served as a professor of physics for 44 years until his retirement in 2013.
Professor Ammirati’s teaching and scholarship were oriented toward engineering physics, and he taught courses in classical and quantum mechanics, as well as introductory, modern and nuclear physics. His more recent research focused on the study of proton-molecule collisions. Professor Ammirati’s design of a sophisticated target chamber in the College's Ion Accelerator Laboratory is recognized as the foundation of significant research taking place at the College today.
Connecticut College benefitted greatly from Professor Ammirati’s dedicated service and leadership throughout his career. He served on numerous College committees, including the Priorities, Planning and Budget Committee; the Steering Committee of the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment and its precursor, the Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies; the Academic and Administrative Procedures Committee; the Faculty Steering and Conference Committee; the Joint Student-Faculty Budget Committee; the Housefellow Review Committee; and the Steering Committee for the Center for Teaching & Learning, now the Joy Shechtman Mankoff Center for Teaching & Learning.
A longtime resident of Quaker Hill, Professor Ammirati also was active in the local community as an elected member of the Representative Town Meeting in Waterford, serving as chair of several committees over the years.