With the introduction of a 3-year cycle among the Asian, European and North American Particle Accelerator Conferences, the Asian Committee for Future Accelerators, ACFA, has decided to award prizes in conjunction with the new series of International Particle Accelerator Conferences when they take place in Asia.
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, January 28, 2010--Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics and Co-director of the Integrating STEM Education Initiative at the University of Colorado-Boulder, will testify on Strengthening Undergraduate and Graduate STEM Education before the US House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Research and Science Education at a hearing on February 4, 2010. An active member of AAPT, Finkelstein is a member of the Colorado/Wyoming AAPT Section, the Physics Education Research (PER) Group, and the PER Leadership Organizing Council.
Additional testimony at the hearing will be provided by:
• Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Ph.D , Director, Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings , Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation
• Karen Klomparens, Ph.D, Associate Provost of Graduate Education; Dean, Graduate School; Professor of Plant Biology; Provost's Representative to ADAPP
• Robert D. Mathieu, Ph.D, Professor of Astronomy, The University of Wisconsin, Department of Astronomy
• Rick Stevens, Ph.D, Associate Laboratory Director for Computing, Environment and Life Sciences, Argonne National Laboratory, Professor of Computer Science, University of Chicago
About the Committee on Science and Technology
The Committee is responsible for overseeing research and development programs at all of all non-defense federal scientific research and development (R&D) at a number of federal agencies, including (either completely or in part): National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Fire Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, January 28, 2010--The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will present the first J. D. Jackson Excellence in Graduate Education Award to Eugene Commins, physics professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His remarks, Some Personal Reflections on Physics Graduate Education, will present a picture of his life as a graduate student and then as an instructor in the Columbia University Physics Department of the 1950s. He will discuss how those early experiences influenced his subsequent experiences as a mentor of Berkeley physics graduate students during the last five decades.
This prestigious award will be presented to Commins at the Ceremonial Session of the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 15 at 1:30 pm.
Warren Hein, AAPT Executive Officer noted, "It is a great honor to recognize an educator with such a distinguished career as the first recipient of the J. D. Jackson Award. Dr. Commins sets the standard for graduate physics around the world."
Commins earned his B.A. with Honors in Mathematics and Physics at Swarthmore College and his Ph.D. in Physics at Columbia University, New York, N.Y. He began his teaching career at Columbia University before moving to the University of California, Berkeley in 1960. Frances Hellman, Chair of the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley said, "Eugene has been one of the pillars of the Berkeley Physics Department for several decades. Over this period, he has taught and educated generations of physicists, many of whom have gone on to sterling careers in their own
right: our current Energy Secretary, Nobel Laureate Steve Chu, is an outstanding example of a student who was taught and mentored by Eugene! But, by far, the biggest impact that Eugene has had is on the broad spectrum of graduate students from across the country and around the world."
About the Award
Named in honor of outstanding physicist and teacher, J. D. Jackson, this award recognizes physicists and physics educators who, like John David Jackson, have made outstanding contributions to curriculum development, mentorship, or classroom teaching in graduate physics education. It is given in recognition of contributions to graduate physics education and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, January 27, 2010 --The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will present The Melba Newell Phillips Medal to Mary Beth Monroe, Professor of Physics at Southwest Texas Junior College, at the Ceremonial Session of the Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 15, 2010 at 1:30 pm.
As a long-time AAPT member, Monroe has served the organization with dedication at the state and national level for more than three decades. She was AAPT Secretary and Chair of the Publications Committee from 2001-2007. Monroe is currently a member of the Committee on the Interests of Senior Physicists and Chair of the Governance Review Committee. She has played a leading role in developing networks among physicists teaching in Two Year Colleges that have led both to increasing involvement of Two Year and Community Colleges in AAPT and to better teaching for the students who study physics in these schools.
Monroe received her B.S. degree in physics from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, and her M.S. in Physics (research field, plasma physics) with a double minor in Junior College Teaching (HEW intern) and Math, 1973. She is a dedicated proponent of quality physics education in Two Year and Community Colleges. She served on the AAPT Executive Board as Member-at-Large Representing Two Year Colleges and as a member of the Committee on Physics in the Two Year College. Additionally, she served as Principal Investigator and Project Director for TYC21 and as Co Principal Investigator for Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics at Two Year Colleges from 2002-2005.
Regarding her presentation, Monroe says, "In the early planning stages of the AAPT initiative, The Two Year College in the Twenty First Century (TYC21), Jack Hehn, then Associative Executive Officer of AAPT, asked me,'Who is AAPT?' That question has come to mind often during the last fifteen years. During my presentation I will convey why it is important that we, individually and collectively, as a community of physicists and physics teachers, answer that question."
About the Award
The Melba Newell Phillips Medal is AAPT's highest recognition of member leadership and service. It honors Melba Phillips for her leadership and dedicated service to physics education. She was the first woman President of the AAPT and a founder of the Federation of American Scientists. She was a champion of physics education throughout her life. This Award is given only occasionally to subsequent AAPT leaders who display similar achievements and exceptional contributions. The first recipient of the Award was Melba Phillips herself (Emeritus, University of Chicago), in January 1982. The complete list of winners can be found at http://www.aapt.org/Grants/phillips.cfm.
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, January 26, 2010 -- The Winter 2010 AAPT Distinguished Service Citations will be presented on Monday, February 15 at 1:30 pm during the Awards Ceremony at the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The AAPT members being honored with this award are Karen Williams, Patrick Whippey, and Beverly (Trina) Cannon.
Karen Williams is Professor of Physics at East Central University in Ada, OK. She earned her MS in Physics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and her PhD in Physics Education from the University of Oklahoma. Through her work with the Society of Physics Students, Williams has influenced thousands of future physics teachers.
An AAPT member for 20 years, she has been extremely active in the Arkansas- Oklahoma-Kansas Section, having held every office, including President, and hosting a section meeting at East Central University. Williams has presented several workshops at section meetings, attended countless workshops herself, and been involved as Co-PI or lead teacher in two NSF grants training teachers in teaching physical science. She has generously donated her time and shared her expertise as a presenter at numerous AAPT national meetings.
Patrick Whippey, The University of Western Ontario physics professor emeritus, is a very knowledgeable and dedicated physics teacher who is a role model to both educators and students. A willing and effective mentor to new and experienced teachers, he is well-respected among all of the OAPT Section members and hundreds of physics teachers and students across the province.
Whippey's service to AAPT, the physics profession, and the physics students and teachers of the Ontario section of the AAPT has spanned over 40 years. He has made significant contributions to the Ontario section as a member of the Executive Board, OAPT section representative, and web master. He has made contributions to numerous activities for physics teachers such as a physics contest; physics photo contest; science shows and presentations for elementary, middle school, and high school students; science olympics; and science fairs. He is an OAPT member at large, organizer of the section and national conferences (one of them was the Canadian Association of Physicists - AAPT joint conference), and contributor to the Science Teachers Association of Ontario events.
Beverly T. Cannon earned her BS in Chemistry at Mississippi State College for Women, her MS in Science Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and her PhD from Louisiana State University. She has actively sought to spread her enthusiasm for physics as a high school teacher and as a Physics Teaching Resource Agent in Texas where she regularly gives workshops to help high school teachers.
For nearly three decades she has devoted her time to serving in AAPT. Perhaps her most unique and respected contribution is her heroic efforts for the AAPT's video contest. Every year, there are new technological issues as students get more and more sophisticated and Trina has dealt with these changes in a timely and professional manner. AAPT is an organization of volunteers, and Trina is one of our organization's best.
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, Jan. 25, 2010 - Are Teacher Education Programs preparing physics teachers for the future? If not, what can be done now? The Fourth Annual Symposium on Physics Education will address these questions and many more during the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting, which takes place February 13 to 17 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.
Even as STEM education is receiving renewed emphasis and increased funding in the United States, current statistics indicate that there is a drastic shortage of qualified physics teachers. A strong STEM education starts in our schools and depends on a large supply of highly qualified teachers.
The AAPT symposium, titled "Educating Physics Teachers: A Call to Action for Physics Departments," will examine the quality of Physics Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States. Symposium panelists will share their experiences in teacher education, and share the findings and recommendations of The Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (T-TEP) Report.
T-TEP just completed a two-year effort in which it investigated the current status of physics teacher education in the United States, collected relevant research findings, and identified major local strengths, as well as significant systemic challenges. The T-TEP Report, which describes the accumulated results of the Task Force investigation, will be distributed to all Physics Departments in the nation and the corresponding Departments of Education.
SYMPOSIUM INFORMATION
"Educating Physics Teachers: A Call to Action for Physics Departments," the Fourth Annual AAPT Symposium on Physics Education, is organized by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and sponsored in part by the PhysTEC Project, an NSF-funded partnership of APS, AAPT, and AIP.
The Symposium, dedicated to the memory of Dr. E. Leonard (Len) Jossem, will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16, 2010, in Salon 3 of the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
MODERATOR
Philip Hammer, AAPT Associate Executive Officer.
PANELISTS
Mary Ann Rankin, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, will discuss the UTeach (UT) program for math and science teacher preparation, the UT Discovery Learning initiative, the Texas Interdisciplinary Plan, and the UT Austin Freshman Research Initiative.
Sheila Tobias, author, will examine Science Teaching as a Profession and discuss why it isn't and how it could be. Sheila Tobias has made a science and an art of being a curriculum outsider. Neither a mathematician nor a scientist, she has tackled the question of why intelligent and motivated college students have specific difficulties in certain disciplines, particularly mathematics and science.
Stamatas Vokos, Professor of Physics, Seattle Pacific University, will present findings and recommendations of the National Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics ( T-TEP Report) as he discusses Transforming the Professional Preparation of Physics Teachers in the United States. He is member of the APS Executive Committee of the Forum on Education and chair of the National Task Force on Teacher Education in Physics (T-TEP), sponsored by APS, AAPT, and AIP.
ABOUT THE JOINT APS/AAPT MEETING
The 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting takes place February 13-17 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. This year's theme is "Physics for the Nation's Future." Full meeting program, workshop, and job fair information, and directions to the hotel are at: http://www.aapt.org/Conferences/wm2010/
Journalists are invited to cover the meeting onsite. News releases describing meeting highlights, including this year's plenary lectures featuring several nationally renowned speakers, are available at: http://aapt.org/aboutaapt/PressReleases.cfm.
MEDIA CREDENTIALS
Members of the press can request information and are invited to cover the upcoming meeting onsite. Credentials can be obtained by sending an email to mgardner@aapt.org or by contacting Marilyn Gardner at 301-209-3306.
ABOUT AAPT
AAPT is the leading organization for physics educators -- with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Its mission is to enhance the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information, please contact:
Marilyn Gardner, American Association of Physics Teachers
301-209-3306 (office) mgardner@aapt.org
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 7, 2010 — The American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced today that it has awarded its 2009 John Torrence Tate Award for International Leadership in Physics to German accelerator physicist Gustav-Adolf Voss. Professor Voss will receive his medal, certificate of recognition, and a $10,000 prize on February 14, 2010 at the American Physical Society meeting in Washington, D.C.
ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 6, 2010) — Ron Shepard of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has been awarded the distinction of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
UPTON, NY - The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded two scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory with the distinction of Fellow. Chi-Chang Kao and Thomas Ludlam will be among 531 AAAS members to receive this honor for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. The new Fellows will be presented with their official certificate and rosette pin on February 20, at the 2010 AAAS annual meeting in San Diego.
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