Adair is voted AAPT vice president

Lila M. Adair has been elected vice president of the American Association of Physics Teachers for 2006, succeeding Harvey S. Leff (see Physics Today, February 2005, page 80 ). Adair, who took office on 25 January during AAPT’s annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, will serve as president-elect in 2007 and president in 2008.

Currently an adjunct faculty member at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, Adair teaches a course in science methods and supervises student teachers. She earned a BS degree from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta in 1967 and a Masters of Art for Teachers in physics from Georgia State University in 1978. She received an educational specialist degree in physics and educational leadership from Emory University in Atlanta in 1990.

Adair has been an active member of the physics community and her experience will be helpful on the AAPT executive board, the association said in a press release after the election. In a prepared statement, Adair called for continued teamwork among AAPT members.

“[In AAPT] I have found a place for professional growth, academic enrichment and lasting friendships,” Adair said. She said she plans to work to strengthen relationships and collaborations among members and to boost members’ commitment to high-quality physics education at all levels.

During her career in physics education, Adair has received several honors, among them the AAPT Distinguished Service Award in 2004, the American Physical Society’s Distinguished Physics Teacher for Georgia in 1999, and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching in 1985.

Some of Adair’s other activities, largely focused on physics education outreach, include serving on The Physics Teacher editorial board and being the chair and a member of the AAPT high-school committee. She also was the high-school representative to AAPT’s executive board and served as district director of the Georgia Science Teachers Association and as APS local physics alliance co-chair.

Also taking office last month were Dwain M. Desbien, two-year-college member-at-large, for a three-year term, and Charles E. Robertson, reelected as treasurer for a two-year term. Desbien is a physics instructor at Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale, Arizona, and Robertson is senior lecturer emeritus in the department of physics at the University of Washington.