Vera Rubin Recognized for Outstanding Leadership in Physics Education
DOI: 10.1063/PT.4.1597
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced that Vera Rubin, Ph.D., will receive the Richtmyer Memorial Award. Rubin, Senior Fellow of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, will receive the award for outstanding contributions to physics and effectively communicating those contributions to physics educators.
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced that Vera Rubin, Ph.D., will receive the Richtmyer Memorial Award. Rubin, Senior Fellow of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, will receive the award for outstanding contributions to physics and effectively communicating those contributions to physics educators.
The Richtmyer Award will be presented to Dr. Rubin at a Ceremonial Session of the AAPT Winter Meeting at 9:00 am, on Saturday, February 14, 2009. Following the presentation, Dr. Rubin will deliver her keynote address titled, “Rotating Galaxies and Dark Matter.”
Dr. Rubin is an observational astronomer whose studies of the motions of visible matter in galaxies led to the discovery of dark matter. She is a graduate of Vassar College, Cornell University, and Georgetown University. After 10 years as a researcher and faculty member at Georgetown, she moved to the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1965 where she is now a Senior Fellow.
She has received many prestigious awards including the National Medal of Science in 1993 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1996. She has also received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Smith College, among others. Dr. Rubin is also active in communicating her science to students and teachers and in encouraging and supporting women in science.
Harvey S. Leff, Chairman, AAPT Awards Committee, said, “Dr. Rubin’s fastidious measurements of the distribution of galaxies in the universe and the motion of stars in galaxies are at the core of current cosmological knowledge. Her results indicating the existence of dark matter have led to a fundamental puzzle in astrophysics: What is dark matter and why has it escaped detection heretofore?”
Warren Hein, Executive Officer of AAPT said, “AAPT is pleased and honored to be presenting Dr. Rubin with the Richtmyer Memorial Award. Dr. Rubin’s experimental evidence for the existence of dark matter again reminds us that even with all we know there is still much to be discovered and explained. Physics, astronomy, and all of the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics must continue to move the envelope. We need the youth of today to be our “Dr. Rubins” of the future. That is what physics education and AAPT are all about.”
Regarding the award, Rubin stated, “As a young scientist, I believed that most of my satisfactions in science would be inner satisfactions. But through the years, I have experienced much joy from interactions with others: scientists, teachers, students, and the interested public. That makes the honor of receiving the Richtmyer Memorial Award from AAPT very special, because of my high regard for both the AAPT and for the previous scientists who have been honored with this award.”
About the Award
The Richtmyer Memorial Award is given annually in memory of Floyd K. Richtmyer, distinguished physicist, teacher, and administrator. Professor Richtmyer was one of the founders of AAPT and served as a president. As a teacher, author, research worker, and dean, he was the guide for many young physicists who became leaders of American science and has had a wide influence on the development of physics in the United States. The award is given annually since 1941 to a person who has made outstanding contributions to physics and effectively communicated those contributions to physics educators.
Past recipients of the Richtmyer Award include Nobel Laureates, Arthur H. Compton, Enrico Fermi, and Steven Chu as well as Philip Morrison, founder of the Federation of American Scientists. The complete list of winners can be found at http://www.aapt.org/Grants/richtmyer.cfm.
About AAPT
AAPT is the leading organization for physics educators - with more than 12,000 members worldwide. Its mission is to enhance the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For More Information: Contact Linda Dylla, Communications Department, ldylla@aapt.org, (301) 209-3622, (301) 209-0845 (Fax)
