AIP Chair Takes High AAPT Honor

College Park, MD, 24 January 2008 - Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, chair of the American Institute of Physics’ Governing Board, and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, just added another honor to her 24 honorary doctorates from universities: the American Association of Physics Teachers’ most prestigious award. Dresselhaus received the award and presented a lecture on Tuesday, January 22, at the AAPT’s winter meeting, held this year in Baltimore, MD.

“I’ve had a lot of administrative responsibilities over the years. The one thing I kept doing, no matter what, was teaching,” Dresselhaus said in her acceptance speech.

The award, called the Oersted medal, is given “in recognition of her outstanding, widespread and lasting impact on the teaching of physics.” Dresselhaus’ lecture will be titled “Expanding the Audience for Physics Education,” which is fitting, since she has been particularly active in helping women break into the once male-dominated field of physics. Dresselhaus, a professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering has directed her formal teaching effort to the preparation of engineering students in the use of fundamental condensed matter and materials physics in their professional careers. She became the first woman to chair the board of the AIP in 2003.