Obituary of Kenneth Edward Davis

Kenneth Edward Davis, President of AAPT in 1976, died in Portland, Oregon on February 23, 2009 of heart failure.

Born September 26, 1914, Ken earned the AB at Kalamazoo College in 1937, the MA at Syracuse University in 1942, and the PhD from the University of Rochester in 1948; his doctoral period was punctuated by other work at Rochester, both with the Manhattan District and as an instructor in the physics department during 1943‑1946.

He joined the Reed College faculty in 1948, where he continued until his retirement in 1980. His career was focused on efforts to improve the teaching of physics at the college and secondary school levels. This work included a term as President and six years as Council Representative of the Oregon Section of AAPT (leading to an AAPT Distinguished Service Citation in 1963); co‑founding and serving as a council member of the Pacific Northwest Association of College Physics; membership in (and directorship of institutes for high school and college teachers for) the Physical Sciences Study Committee; conducting an extended sequence of in‑service institutes for high‑school and community college physics teachers under NSF auspices; co‑establishing “The Mathematics‑Physics Faculty Seminar” discussion of possibilities for harmonizing the language of mathematics instruction and usage in the teaching of the two subjects.

His devotion to questions of physics pedagogy also led to numerous public appearances, college and school visits, sabbatical activities, and related conferences here and abroad.