AAPT Bestows Awards in Boise

The American Association of Physics Teachers presented the following awards at its 125th meeting, held in Boise, Idaho, in August.

The Robert A. Millikan Award, given for notable and creative contributions to physics teaching, went to Simon George, a professor of physics at California State University, Long Beach. AAPT recognized George for, among other things, his influence on learning and teaching physics worldwide.

Barry C. Barish director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and the Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics at Caltech, received this year’s Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award. At the meeting, Barish presented his lecture entitled “Catching the Waves with LIGO.”

Thomas L. O’Kuma, lead teacher of physical sciences at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, received the Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award, and Lowell G. Herr, a recently retired physics teacher at the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon, was given the Excellence in Pre-College Teaching Award. AAPT cited both for their “many contributions to the teaching of physics and to the professional growth of physics teachers.”