His research focus is on intersections of nonlinear dynamics, acoustics of Asian musical instruments, and mathematical physics. He is currently interested in the tuning of the guqin and guzheng, and with high-frequency overtones of both spoken Chinese and Asian operatic singing. For fun, he writes high school-level physics competition problems and experiments. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include introductory physics courses, courses that bridge music and science, quantum physics, chaos, and real-time learning environments.
He is the author of three books for students and instructors on the problems and solutions for "Halliday and Resnick's Physics." He was co-author with Kenneth Krane on the fifth edition of the two-volume "Halliday and Resnick's Physics" (Wiley 2002). He directed the U.S. physics team for over a dozen years, and students he coached won 45 gold medals, 31 silver and four bronze. He currently serves as the secretary to the International Physics Olympiad. He remains active in the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers, and he has presented numerous seminars on physics teaching and physics competitions in over a dozen countries throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. He recently featured as the back page author for an article on physics competitions for APS News.
Stanley has a B.Sc. in physics from Iowa State University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in physics from Oregon State University. Between undergraduate and graduate school, he worked as a high school teacher for seven years on a remote outer island in the Fiji group. Before joining Duke Kunshan, he was the Dobson Family Endowed Professor of Physics at Beloit College.