WINTER 2010 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CITATION AWARDEES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, Maryland, United States, January 26, 2010 -- The Winter 2010 AAPT Distinguished Service Citations will be presented on Monday, February 15 at 1:30 pm during the Awards Ceremony at the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The AAPT members being honored with this award are Karen Williams, Patrick Whippey, and Beverly (Trina) Cannon.

Karen Williams is Professor of Physics at East Central University in Ada, OK. She earned her MS in Physics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and her PhD in Physics Education from the University of Oklahoma. Through her work with the Society of Physics Students, Williams has influenced thousands of future physics teachers.

An AAPT member for 20 years, she has been extremely active in the Arkansas- Oklahoma-Kansas Section, having held every office, including President, and hosting a section meeting at East Central University. Williams has presented several workshops at section meetings, attended countless workshops herself, and been involved as Co-PI or lead teacher in two NSF grants training teachers in teaching physical science. She has generously donated her time and shared her expertise as a presenter at numerous AAPT national meetings.

Patrick Whippey, The University of Western Ontario physics professor emeritus, is a very knowledgeable and dedicated physics teacher who is a role model to both educators and students. A willing and effective mentor to new and experienced teachers, he is well-respected among all of the OAPT Section members and hundreds of physics teachers and students across the province.

Whippey’s service to AAPT, the physics profession, and the physics students and teachers of the Ontario section of the AAPT has spanned over 40 years. He has made significant contributions to the Ontario section as a member of the Executive Board, OAPT section representative, and web master. He has made contributions to numerous activities for physics teachers such as a physics contest; physics photo contest; science shows and presentations for elementary, middle school, and high school students; science olympics; and science fairs. He is an OAPT member at large, organizer of the section and national conferences (one of them was the Canadian Association of Physicists — AAPT joint conference), and contributor to the Science Teachers Association of Ontario events.

Beverly T. Cannon earned her BS in Chemistry at Mississippi State College for Women, her MS in Science Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and her PhD from Louisiana State University. She has actively sought to spread her enthusiasm for physics as a high school teacher and as a Physics Teaching Resource Agent in Texas where she regularly gives workshops to help high school teachers.

For nearly three decades she has devoted her time to serving in AAPT. Perhaps her most unique and respected contribution is her heroic efforts for the AAPT’s video contest. Every year, there are new technological issues as students get more and more sophisticated and Trina has dealt with these changes in a timely and professional manner. AAPT is an organization of volunteers, and Trina is one of our organization’s best.

About AAPT

AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org .

The Winter 2010 AAPT Distinguished Service Citations will be presented on Monday, February 15 at 1:30 pm during the Awards Ceremony at the 2010 Joint APS/AAPT Winter Meeting at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The AAPT members being honored with this award are Karen Williams, Patrick Whippey, and Beverly (Trina) Cannon.