Educators Honored by AAPT

The 124th meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, held in Philadelphia in January included an awards ceremony at which the following individuals were honored for their contributions to physics education.

AAPT presented the Oersted Medal, the society’s most prestigious award, to David Hestenes, a professor of physics and astronomy at Arizona State University. AAPT recognized Hestenes for his “contributions both to physics education research and to the training of teachers of introductory physics.” In accepting the award, Hestenes gave a talk entitled “Reforming the Mathematical Language of Physics.”

Jordan Goodman, who chairs the physics department at the University of Maryland, College Park, received AAPT’s Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award. His award talk was entitled “Neutrinos, Dark Matter, and the Cosmological Constant: The Dark Side of the Universe.”

Distinguished Service Citations were presented to Joseph Drenchko (Syracuse University), John Fitzgibbons (Syracuse University), Harry Knowles (Metrologic Instruments Inc), David Ohlde (Pratt Community College in Kansas), and William Ploughe (emeritus professor at Ohio State University).