Contact: Marilyn Gardner
American Association of Physics Teachers
mgardner@aapt.org
301-209-3306
July 17, 2011 -- The traveling members of the US Physics team competed with 393 of the most talented young physicists on the global stage, representing 84 countries, during the 42nd International Physics Olympiad and they brought home two gold and three silver medals. The Olympiad, held July 10-17, was sponsored by the Promotion of Academic Olympiads and Development of Science Education Foundation (POSN), under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, and Chulalongkorn University (CU), in Bangkok, Thailand.
The gold medalists are Brian Zhang, a senior at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA, and Ante Qu, a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Junction, NJ. Brian scored 8th highest overall in the competition.
The silver medalists are Lucy Chen, a senior at Ames High School, Ames, IA, Andrew Das Sarma, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, and Eric Speiglan, a junior from Naperville North High School in Naperville, IL. Andrew's score ranked him as the second highest silver medalist.
Four countries won five gold medals: Taiwan, China, Singapore, and Korea. These four countries also had unofficial aggregate total scores above the US. The US aggregate total score was fifth highest.
Six countries won three gold medals: Hong Kong, India, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Slovakia.
The United States "tied" for eleventh on the medal count with Romania.
The coaches for the 2011 U.S. Physics team are: Paul Stanley, Academic Director/Senior Coach, Warren Turner, Senior Coach/Lab Coach, Andrew Lin, Jia Jia Dong, Quizi Li, David Fallest, and Marianna Mao, Junior Coach.
The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by AAPT to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. It continues to be supported as a joint initiative between AAPT, AIP, and the member societies of the American Institute for Physics: Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Astronomical Society, American Crystallographic Society, American Geophysical Union, American Physical Society, AVS, Optical Society America, and The Society of Rheology.
The 42nd IPhO was organized and hosted through the generous support of the Royal Thai Government and the POSN (The Promotion of Academic Olympiad and Development of Science Education Foundation). The nine-day international competition brought together The IPhO this year, with about 393 participating pre-university students from more than 84 nations.
MORE ON THE WEB
• Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011/index.cfm
• History of the physics team, including past winners: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/program.cfm
• The official website of the International Physics Olympiad: http://www.ipho2011.org/
• Screening exams the students had to pass to place on the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.compadre.org/psrc/evals/olympiad.cfm.
Funding for the U.S. Physics Team is supported through donations from concerned individuals and organizations. Contributions are entirely used to support the selection, training, and travel of the team. Donations to the U.S. Physics Team are accepted at www.aapt.org/physicsteam/donate.cfm.
About AAPT
AAPT is the premier national organization and authority on physics and physical science education --with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Our mission is to advance the greater good through physics teaching. We provide our members with many opportunities for professional development, communication, and student enrichment. We serve the larger community through a variety of programs and publications. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
Jackson's undergraduate work in Physics at the University of Washington was recognized as Magna Cum Laude with distinction in Physics. Since receiving his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1994, he has held faculty positions at Santa Clara University and Dickinson College, including a term as Chair of the Dickinson Department of Physics and Astronomy from 2006-2009.
The recipient of numerous awards and grants, Jackson is a frequent presenter at national and international physics conferences. His publications have appeared in such journals as Physical Review Letters and Science, and he co-authored a textbook for non-science majors titled Explorations in Physics. Additionally, he regularly contributes to the American Journal of Physics as a reviewer and as an author.
"The Search Committee was very pleased with the high quality of the applicant pool, gratified that AJP's editorial office has found such a welcoming and supportive home at Dickinson College, and confident that the journal will be in most capable hands under the guidance of David Jackson," said John Mallinkrodt, Search Committee Chair.
Jackson will begin working with Jan Tobochnik, the current editor, this fall. During that time he will be considering candidates for the position of Associate Editor.
In his application for the position, Jackson noted that, "The American Journal of Physics is a unique journal that, I believe, has more impact than any other physics journal in the world. I say this because most articles published in research journals are highly specialized and are typically of interest to only a small number of researchers...In contrast, most articles published in AJP are understandable by almost any physicist, most physics graduate students, many undergraduate physics students, and a good number of other scientists as well. As such, AJP may well be the most widely read physics journal in the world, giving it tremendous reach."
About the American Journal of Physics
The American Journal of Physics (AJP) is devoted to the instructional and cultural aspects of physics. The journal informs physics education globally with member subscriptions, institutional subscriptions, such as libraries and physics departments, and consortia agreements. It is geared to an advanced audience, primarily at the college level. Contents include novel approaches to laboratory and classroom instruction, insightful articles on topics in classical and modern physics, apparatus and demonstration notes, historical or cultural topics, resource letters, research in physics education, and book reviews.
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 applications 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.
]]>College Park, MD, May 23, 2011 -- The members of the 2011 U.S. Physics Team come from California, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington. There are four sophomores, seven juniors, and nine seniors. Five of them are returning as second time members of the United States Physics Team. You will find them in College Park, MD, preparing for the next stage of the competition to identify the world's best high school physics students.
The top twenty physics students in the United States are beginning ten days of rigorous academic training, interactive learning, and friendship building as they prepare to test themselves on the world stage. Team members were selected through an examination process that included such upper level skills as the Lagrangian Formula of Mechanics, Differential Calculus for Electricity and Magnetism, and Complex Variables, skills usually learned at the end of the undergraduate experience.
They were welcomed to the University of Maryland, College Park campus by AAPT Executive Officer, Beth Cunningham and AIP Executive Director, Fred Dylla. Officers and staff from AAPT, AIP, APS, and the University of Maryland were on hand for the camp kick off.
Meet the U.S. Physics team at http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011/team.cfm. Get to know their coaches, Paul Stanley, Academic Director; Warren Turner, Senior Lab Coach; Qui Zi Li, Assistant Lab Coach; and Academic Coaches, Jia Jia Dong, David Fallest, and Andrew Linn at http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011/coaches.cfm.
In addition to learning a year of physics in two weeks, the team members will visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill, meet with physicist and Nobel prize winner, Carl Wieman of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), have a photo opportunity at the Albert Einstein statue at the National Academy of Science, and meet NASA scientists, Jonathan Gardner, Chief, Observational Cosmology Laboratory and Neil Gehrels, Chief, Astroparticle Physics Laboratory.
At the end of the camp, they will be tested again and five of the team members will be selected to travel to Bangkok, Thailand, representing the United States in the 42nd International Physics Olympiad, July 10 - 18, 2011.
MORE ON THE WEB
Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011
Meet the 2011 Team: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011/team.cfm
History of the physics team, including past winners: http://www.aapt.org/Contests/olympiad.cfm
The official website of the 2011 International Physics Olympiad: http://www.ipho2011.org/index.php
About AAPT
The American Association of Physics Teachers (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 organizational and sponsorship support to the U.S. Physics Team in partnership with the American Institute for Physics and its member societies (http://www.aip.org/aip/societies.html).
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
College Park, MD, May 5, 2011--Where can you find America's brightest emerging physicists? They come from California, Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. There are four sophomores, seven juniors, and nine seniors. Five of them are returning as second time members of the United States Physics Team. You will find them in College Park, MD, later this month preparing for the next stage of the competition to identify the world's best high school physics students.
Twenty students from across the U.S. have emerged through a rigorous exam process that began last January with approximately 3,600 students who participated in the Fnet=ma exam to become the 2011 U.S. Physics Team (http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/team.cfm). These students will continue to train for the mentally grueling exams and lab tests they'll face at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad to be held from July 10 - 18, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand, where more than 400 student scholars from 90 nations will test their knowledge in physics, competing with the best in the world. Over the past ten years, every U.S. Physics Team member traveling to the international competition has returned with a medal.
The members of the 2011 U.S. Physics Team are:
Lucy Chen, Ames High School, Ames, IA
Andrew Das Sarma, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, MD
Calvin Deng, William G. Enloe Magnet High School, Raleigh, NC
Adam Jermyn, Longmeadow High School, Longmeadow, MA
Yota Kato, EPGY Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Brian Kong, Milton Academy, Milton, MA
Benjamin Li, Arcadia High School, Arcadia, CA
Jonathan Li, St. Margaret's Episcopal School, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Peter Lu, Illinois Math and Science Academy, Aurora, IL
Ante Qu, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Junction, NJ
Eric Schneider, High Technology High School, Lincroft, NJ
Sadik Shahidain, Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ
Bobby Shen, Dulles High School, Sugar Land, TX
Utsarga Sikder, South Brunswick High School, Monmouth Junction, NJ
Eric Spieglan, Naperville North High School, Naperville, IL
Albert Wu, The Harker School, San Jose, CA
May Yang, Libertyville High School, Libertyville, IL
Ryan Yoo, Homeschool, Los Angeles, CA
Brian Zhang, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, CA
Andrew Zhao, Webster Thomas High School, Webster, NY
"The competition for a position on the U.S. Physics Team is intense and each student who participated in the 2011 selection process is deserving of recognition. They are the future of America's success in physics related fields. AAPT is honored to recognize the exceptional scholars who qualified for the team and to support their further participation in the International Physics Olympiad," said Dr. Beth A. Cunningham, Executive Officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
An integral part of the U.S. Physics Team experience is the training camp. Most of the students invited to the camp are the top science student in their high school. For many, it is their first chance to meet other students who are truly their peers. The training camp is a crash course in the first two years of university physics. Students learn at a very fast pace. They have an opportunity to hear about cutting edge research from some of the community's leading physicists. At the end of the training camp, five students will be selected to travel to Bangkok for the international competition.
The coaches for the 2011 U.S. Physics team are: Paul Stanley, Academic Director/Senior Coach, Warren Turner, Senior Coach/Lab Coach, Andrew Lin, Jia Jia Dong, Qui Zi Li, and David Fallest.
The US Physics Team is sponsored by the generous support of private donors and the member societies of the American Institute for Physics:
Acoustical Society of America
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Astronomical Society
American Crystallographic Association
American Geophysical Union
American Physical Society
AVS: Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing
Optical Society of America
The Society of Rheology
LIST OF EVENTS:
May 20 -- 2011 Physics Team members arrive at the University of Maryland for their intensive training camp
May 23 -- Welcome Reception at the University of Maryland
May 25 -- Congressional Visits
May 31 -- Five students will be chosen to represent the U.S. Physics Team at the international competition
July 10-18 -- The International Physics Olympiad in Bangkok, Thailand
July 17 -- Closing Ceremony
MORE ON THE WEB
Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2011
History of the physics team, including past winners: http://www.aapt.org/Contests/olympiad.cfm
42nd International Physics Olympiad: http://www.ipho2011.org/index.php
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and physical scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT is responsible for recruiting, selecting and training teams each year to compete in the International Physics Olympiad Competition. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
Contact: Marilyn Gardner
Director of Communications
E-mail: mgardner@aapt.org
Phone: (301) 209-3306
www.aapt.org
Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,113 and the total number of foreign associates to 418. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States.
Newly elected members and their affiliations related to the physics community at the time of election are:
Edwards, Richard L.; George and Orpha Gibson Chair of Earth Systems Sciences and Distinguished McKnight University Professor, department of geology and geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Harrison, T. Mark; director, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and professor of geology, department of earth and space sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Heuser, John E.; professor of biophysics, department of cell biology and physiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Levine, Herbert; professor, department of physics, University of California, San Diego, La JollaMaquat, Lynne E.; J. Lowell Orbison Chair and professor of biochemistry and biophysics, department of biochemistry and biophysics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, N.Y.
McEuen, Paul L.; Goldwin Smith Professor of Physics, department of physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Perdew, John P.; professor of physics, department of physics and engineering physics, School of Science and Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans
Sandwell, David T.; professor of geophysics, Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla
Shraiman, Boris I.; Suzan F. Gurley Professor of Theoretical Physics and Biology, and permanent member, Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Strominger, Andrew; Gwill E. York Professor of Physics, department of physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Wright, Edward L.; David Saxon Presidential Chair in Physics and professor, department of physics and astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles
Ye, Jun; NIST fellow, National Institute of Standards and Technology; JILA fellow, JILA; and adjoint professor, department of physics, University of Colorado, Boulder
Newly elected foreign associates, their affiliations at the time of election, and their country of citizenship are:
Ihm, Jisoon; professor, department of physics and astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea (South Korea)
Johnson, Louise N.; David Phillips Professor in Molecular Biophysics, Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom (United Kingdom)
Tosatti, Erio; professor of theoretical physics, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy (Italy)
]]>College Park, Maryland, April 7, 2011--James E. Hansen, is the 2011 recipient of the Klopsteg Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Hansen will receive the award on August 3 at the 2011 AAPT Summer Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The theme of the meeting will be communicating with the public about physics and Hansen's work on global climate change has been an exemplar in this area.
Klopsteg awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to the general public. Hansen will present a lecture on a physics topic of current significance suitable for nonspecialists, in memory of Paul Klopsteg, AAPT Past President.
Often called the "father of global warming," Hansen heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a part of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Earth Sciences Division. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
Hansen was trained in physics and astronomy in the space science program of James Van Allen at the University of Iowa. He obtained a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics, a M.S. in Astronomy, and a Ph.D. in Physics, all three degrees from the University of Iowa. He participated in the NASA graduate traineeship from 1962 to 1966 and, at the same time, between 1965 and 1966, he was a visiting student at the Institute of Astrophysics at the University of Kyoto and in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Tokyo. Hansen began work at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in 1967.
After graduate school, Hansen continued his work with radiative transfer models and attempting to understand the atmosphere of Venus. He is best known for his research in the field of climatology, his testimony on climate change to congressional committees in 1988 that helped raise broad awareness of global warming, and his advocacy of action to limit the impacts of climate change. He has authored and co-authored an impressive number and variety of scholarly papers about climate change.
Hansen was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996 for his "development of pioneering radiative transfer models and studies of planetary atmospheres; development of simplified and three-dimensional global climate models; explication of climate forcing mechanisms; analysis of current climate trends from observational data; and projections of anthropogenic impacts on the global climate system."
In 2001, he received the 7th Annual Heinz Award in the Environment for his research on global warming. In 2006 he was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine. Also, in 2006, the he was selected to receive the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.
In 2007, Hansen shared the US $1 million Dan David Prize for "achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on our world." In 2008, he was named by EarthSky Communications and a panel of 600 scientist-advisers as the Scientist Communicator of the Year. In 2009, Hansen was awarded the American Meteorological Society's Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, their highest honor. He was the 2010 winner of the Sophie, Prize, set up in 1997 by Norwegian Jostein Gaarder, for his "key role for the development of our understanding of human-induced climate change." A well known authority on climate change issues, Hansen authored the book, "Storms of My Grandchildren" which was published in 2009 by Bloomsbury USA.
About the Award
Established in 1990, this award is given to a notable physicist in memory of Paul Klopsteg. The Klopsteg Memorial Award recipient is asked to make a major presentation at an AAPT Summer Meeting on a topic of current significance suitable for non-specialists.
Previous Awardees:
2010 Robert Sherrer, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2009 Lee Smolin, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON
2008 Michio Kaku, City University of New York, New York, NY
2007 Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
2006 Lisa Randall, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2005 Wendy Freedman, Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA
2004 Anton Zeilinger, University of Vienna, Austria
http://www.aapt.org/Programs/awards/klopsteg.cfm
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. The association is dedicated to providing the most current resources and up-to-date research needed to enhance a physics educator's professional development. The results are not only a deeper appreciation of the teaching profession, but most importantly, more enthusiastic involvement from their students. Founded in 1930, AAPT 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.
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 18, 2011-- The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today Edward E. Prather is the recipient of 2011 David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award. Prather is Associate Professor, Department of Astronomy-Steward Observatory, at the University of Arizona where he serves as Executive Director of the NSF, NASA, and JPL funded Center for Astronomy Education (CAE). This award is given in recognition of contributions to undergraduate physics teaching and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.
This prestigious award will be presented to Dr. Prather during the AAPT Summer Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, where he will also present a paper. When informed of his selection for this award, Prather said, "When I was an undergraduate physics major I spent countless hours pouring over my Halliday and Resnick physics textbook - it was my physics bible. It is quite an honor to be recognized, with this particular award, for something I am so passionate about--sharing my love of physics and astronomy with undergraduates, and hopefully instilling in these students just how important science is to our society and to our everyday lives."
Prather received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Maine. He predominantly teaches large-enrollment general education introductory college Astronomy courses, but also has taught in-person and online graduate courses both in astronomy and astronomy education, as well as calculus-based intro. physics courses, physics courses for non-majors, and physics courses for pre and in-service teachers. In 2004 he became Executive Director of the Center for Astronomy Education (CAE) at the University of Arizona, where he has led research programs to investigate students' conceptual and reasoning difficulties in the areas of astronomy, astrobiology, physics, and planetary science resulting in the development of innovative instructional strategies that engage learners and significantly improve their understanding of fundamental Earth and space science concepts.
Prather has been a driving force in the creation of research-validated curriculum and assessments materials for introductory Astronomy, such as Lecture-Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, Ranking Tasks in Astronomy, the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory, the Stellar Properties Concept Inventory, the Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory, Mastering Astronomy, and many others. Another major component of Dr. Prather's work is providing industry-leading professional development workshops for current and future instructors of Earth and Space Science. His work in Astronomy Education Research has been published in the American Journal of Physics and in Physics Today, as well as Astronomy Education Review.
In 2006 his work was recognized with the University of Arizona Provost's General Education Teaching Award. He also received the 2009 University of Arizona College of Science Innovation in Teaching Award. Prather's interactive classroom environment challenges his students to step out of their comfort zones, to take chances on being wrong, and to take charge of their learning.
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.
]]>College Park, Maryland, United States, February 14, 2011--The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that the 2011 Paul Zitzewitz Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching Award winner is Stacy McCormack, a high school physics teacher at Penn High School in Mishawaka, IN. This award is in recognition of contributions to pre-college physics teaching and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.
Steve Hope, Principal of Penn High School said, "Stacy is nothing short of a master teacher. She maintains high standards, teaches to every modality through a wide variety of creative assignments, differentiates her instruction to meet individual needs, personalizes instruction, incorporates current technology, and uses current research to guide her teaching. Stacy creates an atmosphere of support, healthy risk taking, and camaraderie in her classes. She has taken technology and integrated that with her best practices to further motivate and engage students."
McCormack has a BS in Secondary Education from Indiana University and earned her MA in Physics Education from Ball State University. She has received numerous awards including Indiana State Teacher of the Year 2011, Penn-Harris-Madison 2010 Teacher of the year, and the Martha Lee and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educator award. She has been involved in the Quarknet Research Experience for Teachers program at the University of Notre Dame and she was selected as one of five teachers in the United States to attend a three-week conference at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland during the summer of 2006.
A member of AAPT and teacher of First Year Physics, Integrated Chemistry/Physics, and online adjunct instructor of Astronomy, Physics, and Physical Science classes for Ivy Tech Community College, she is also the author of Teacher Friendly Physics, a book designed to help science teachers plan affordable lab projects.
On her selection for this recognition, McCormack said, "I am extremely honored to accept the Paul W. Zitzewitz Award for Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching at the Summer AAPT meeting in Omaha. Thank you so much for recognizing the important role of high school physics educators across the country. It means the world to me to receive this award."
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.
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 31, 2011--The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that Brian Jones is the 2011 recipient of the Robert A. Millikan Medal. This award recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. It will be presented during the AAPT Summer Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jones has a B.S. in Physics from Case Western Reserve University and a M.S. in Physics from Cornell University. He is best known for his work as Director of the Little Shop of Physics, an outreach program of the Colorado State University Physics Department.When he isn't traveling and teaching with the Little Shop of Physics, Jones is a Physics Instructor at CSU where he also supervises the undergraduate physics laboratories.
The heart of the Little Shop of Physics is its traveling program. Each year, the Little Shop crew visits over 40 different schools, and makes presentations to approximately 20,000 K-12 students. The key element of the Little Shop of Physics traveling program is that it is all hands-on, giving every student the chance to work with all of the experiments. Besides doing school programs, the Little Shop of Physics presents teacher workshops, hosts an annual open house, and produces a television show, Everyday Science, in cooperation with the local Poudre School District.
Regarding his selection for the 2011 Millikan Medal, Jones said, "I am quite honored to be considered in the company as the past recipients, many of who have been wonderful role models to me as I've developed as a physics educator. And I am honored to be part of such a great group of folks in the Little Shop of Physics. Everything I've done has been a true team effort, and I couldn't ask for a better team."
Jones was recognized for his work in a People Magazine profile ("Scientific Roll Model") in May, 2000, and was selected as one of the 75 physics educators to be profiled in the AAPT's 75th anniversary booklet "Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence in Enhancing the Understanding and Appreciation of Physics Through Teaching."
Additional recognition includes: A "Best Teacher" Award from the Colorado State University Alumni Association, February 2000, the Faculty Undergraduate Teaching Award, College of Natural Sciences, 1998, Colorado State University's N. Preston Davis Award for Instructional Innovation in 1998, Outstanding Science Mentor in Physics by Students as Leaders in Science, 2004-2005, and the Excellence in College Science Instruction Award, Colorado Association of Science Teachers, in 2010.
Jones is co-author of College Physics: A Strategic Approach and has co-developed hands-on science activity kits on electricity, pressure, energy, and motion. The Little Shop of Physics Website has more than 200 visitors daily and features simple physics experiments, interactive experiments and resources for K-12 teachers.
A member of AAPT for over 20 years, Brian's involvement in the organization has been extensive and varied. He has been a member of the Committee on Laboratories and an ongoing member of the Committee on Science Education for the Public. As an extension of his committee involvement, Brian has presented numerous workshops at AAPT national meetings. He is an active member of the Colorado-Wyoming section, at one time serving as president.
In his letter of nomination for Jones, former AAPT President, Chris Chiaverina said, "I can think of no individual more worthy of this recognition. His life-long passion for communicating both the content and beauty of physics to diverse audiences is exemplary; his impact on his students, his colleagues, the local, national and international physics teaching community, and the public is extraordinary. Simply stated, Brian Jones is an evangelist for physics."
About the Award
The Robert A Millikan Medal, established in 1962, recognizes teachers who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. The recipient is asked to make a presentation at the Ceremonial Session of an AAPT Summer Meeting. A monetary award, The Millikan Medal, an Award Certificate, and travel expenses to the meeting are presented to the recipient.
Previous Awardees
2010, Patricia M. Heller, 2009, University of Minnesota
2009, Arthur Eisenkraft, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA
2008, Eric Mazur, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2007, David R. Sokoloff, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
2006, Art Hobson, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
2005, John S. Rigden, Washington University in St. Louis, MO
2004, Kenneth S. Krane, Oregon State University, Corvallis
http://www.aapt.org/Programs/awards/millikan.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 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.
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has announced that David R. Sokoloff, Ph.D. has assumed the role of AAPT President. Sokoloff, Professor of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, will serve as President in 2011, and Past President in 2012.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Queens College of the City University of New York, and earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. Sokoloff taught at Western Illinois University and the University of Michigan-Dearborn before joining the physics faculty of the University of Oregon.
For more than two decades, he has conducted research into students' understanding of physics, and used the results of physics education research to develop active learning laboratories and interactive lecture demonstrations that connect students to the behavior of the physical world. He has also been active sharing these active learning approaches with colleagues.
Since 1999, he has been part of teams presenting active learning workshops in countries around the globe, primarily sponsored by the National Science Foundation, UNESCO, or AAPT. Although these workshops have spanned a full range of introductory physics topics, all were designed to introduce the principles of interactive teaching. He is editor/contributor to Active Learning in Optics and Photonics Training Manual (UNESCO, 2006).
Sokoloff was recently honored with the 2010 Excellence in Physics Education Award from the American Physical Society (with Priscilla Laws and Ronald Thornton). He has also been the recipient of AAPT's Distinguished Service Citation (1997) and Robert A. Millikan Award (2007). An active member of AAPT since 1972, Sokoloff has served as a New Faculty Workshop presenter (2006-present); Co-chair of the Committee on Research in Physics Education (1992-95); PTRA workshop presenter, and given many other national and international presentations.
Sokoloff says of his new role, "This is a critical moment in the history of AAPT, and while the task is daunting, as 2011 President I look forward to working with our Executive Board, AAPT office staff, and our new Executive Officer, Beth Cunningham, to institute changes that will keep the Association vibrant well into the future. This will not happen without the strong support and involvement of our devoted members!"
About AAPT:The AAPT is the premier national organization and authority on physics and physical science education --with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Our mission is to advance the greater good through physics education. We provide our members with many opportunities for professional development, communication, and student enrichment. We serve the larger community through a variety of programs and publica¬tions. 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)
]]>Professor Zare is recognized for his fundamental contribution to the understanding of molecular dynamics and chemical reactions. He developed the extremely sensitive technique of laser induced fluorescence and pioneered its application in many fields ranging from analytical chemistry and molecular biology to astrophysics (composition of interstellar media)
“I’m very honored to be given the opportunity to lead such a premier
astronomical observatory,” Williams said. “As an astronomy student, I
was awestruck by telescopes like the MMT. Even now, as the incoming
director, I get goose bumps whenever I see that enormous primary
mirror.”
“The MMT remains a major instrument in unraveling the mysteries of the
universe,” said Charles Alcock, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics. “I’m confident that Dr. Williams’ leadership
will ensure the MMT’s continued scientific productivity.”
Williams received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University
at Buffalo in 1994 and a Ph.D. from Clemson University in 2000. He
first joined the MMTO in September 2002 when he was awarded the
Firestone Postdoctoral Fellowship. He was hired as an MMT staff
scientist in March 2004, and worked as a technical coordinator from
2005 until 2007, when he was appointed Associate Director.
His research focuses on the study of very evolved high-mass stars
called Wolf-Rayet stars and the stellar explosions (supernovae and
gamma-ray bursts) they produce.
The MMT Observatory operates the 6.5-meter (21-foot) MMT telescope on
the summit of Mt. Hopkins, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles)
south of Tucson, Ariz., on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s Fred
Lawrence Whipple Observatory.
Some of MMT’s recent exciting discoveries include dwarf galaxies lingering in the outskirts of our Milky
Way and hypervelocity stars racing out of our
galaxy at speeds of more than 1 million miles per hour—so fast that
they will never return. Using a new device to quench excessive starlight,
astronomers at MMTO obtained images of a planet on a much closer orbit
around its parent star than any other previously photographed
extrasolar planet.
Williams follows Faith Vilas, an astronomer at the UA’s Steward
Observatory, who headed MMTO for five years.
This release is being issued jointly with the University of Arizona.
# # #
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA
scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin,
evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.