AAPT Honors Physics Educators

The American Association of Physics Teachers presented the following awards at its joint meeting held with the American Astronomical Society in San Diego, California, in January.

The Oersted Medal, AAPT’s highest honor, was presented to Lillian C. McDermott, a physics professor and the director of the physics education group at the University of Washington, Seattle. She was recognized by the society for her “pioneering work in establishing research on the learning and teaching of physics as a valuable field for scholarly inquiry by physicists, her influential curriculum development at the university level, and her efforts to improve teacher education.”

Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, was this year’s Richtmyer Award Lecturer. The award went to Jackson for her “stellar accomplishments in research, teaching, and administration and for demonstrating that minority women can rise to exemplary leadership positions in American society.” Jackson’s talk was entitled “Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Its Use in Nuclear Reactor Regulation.”

Distinguished Service Citations were presented to the following society members: Clarence Bakken (Gunn High School, Palo Alto, California); Richard Berg (University of Maryland, College Park); Jack Hehn (American Institute of Physics); Evelyn Patterson (US Air Force Academy); and Richard Reimann (Boise State University).