18
Awards at the AAPT 2014 Winter Meeting
Sir Michael Berry
University of Bristol
emeritus
The Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award for 2014 is presented to
Professor Sir Michael Victory Berry
in recognition of outstanding contributions to physics and effectively communicating those contribu-
tions to physics educators. Sir Michael Berry is a world-renowned theoretical physicist who is famous
for his discovery of geometric phase effects (“Berry’s phase”) in quantum mechanics. His more than 450
scientific publications cover topics ranging from glaciers, to nonlinear dynamics, to optical diffraction,
quantum chaos, and caustics. He is also author of
Principles of Cosmology and Gravitation
. With a well-
deserved reputation for polished, elegant, and illuminating lectures, he has brought the excitement of
contemporary theoretical physics to audiences around the world.
Regarding his selection for this award Berry said, “I am delighted to receive this unexpected honor from
the AAPT, and humbled to be in the company of such distinguished previous recipients.”
Berry is Melville Wills Professor of Physics (Emeritus), University of Bristol. He holds a Bachelor of Sci-
ence degree in physics from the University of Exeter and a PhD in theoretical physics from University of
St. Andrews. He holds 10 honorary Doctorates and one honorary professorship. His career has devel-
oped at the University of Bristol, first as a postdoctoral fellow, then lecturer and then reader before be-
coming professor in 1979. From 2006-2012 he was Editor of the journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society
.
His recognition with the Maxwell Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics in 1978 was followed by
numerous other science and mathematics awards, including the ignobel prize in physics in 2000, shar-
ing the prize with Andre Geim for their work on “The Physics of Flying Frogs.”Berry was elected to the
Royal Society of London in 1982, was elected a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of
the USA in 1995, and knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1996.
Berry specializes in semiclassical physics (asymptotic physics, quantum chaos) applied to wave phenom-
ena in quantum mechanics and other areas such as optics. He has given many prestigious lectures and
has held visiting positions in Nigeria, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Australia,
New Zealand, the United States, Israel, Mexico, and Belgium.
Dean Zollman
Kansas State University
Department of Physics
The Oersted Medal for 2014 is presented to
Dean Zollman
in recognition of his significant contribu-
tions to physics education research and mentoring of a generation of PER researchers. Zollman earned
his BS and MS in Physics from Indiana University, Bloomington. His PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Phys-
ics was earned at the University of Maryland, College Park. He started his career as Assistant Professor
at Kansas State University in 1970, becoming Associate Professor (1977), Professor (1982), Distin-
guished University Teaching Scholar (1997), University Distinguished Professor (2001), and Head of the
Department of Physics and William and Joan Porter Professor from 2001 to 2011.
Zollman has achieved many of the milestones considered indicative of an intellectual giant in the phys-
ics education field—rising up the academic ladder to spend over 30 years as a full professor, authoring
an extensive record of research publications with dozens of co-authors, securing an impressive record of
consistent extramural funding for over three decades, and mentoring a long list of students and postdocs
who have gone on to establish themselves in the field.
His contributions to physics are threefold—a dedicated pursuit to the application of advanced technolo-
gies to bring the beauty of physics to all learners, an unwavering commitment to mentoring his protégés
long after they leave school to find their own way in the world, and continuing physics education re-
search and the impact of that research on the teaching and learning of physics. He served as AAPT Staff
Physicist from 1975-1977 and was instrumental in the development of the AAPT workshop program
which has become an important feature of the association’s Summer and Winter meetings. In 1981-82
Zollman was Visiting Associate Professor and NSF Faculty Fellow at the University of Utah. He has been
a guest professor in Germany at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich in 1989 and 2006 and at the
Institute for Science Education (IPN) in Kiel in 1998 and 2007.
Zollman was recognized for his service to AAPT with a 1986 Distinguished Service Citation for his
implementation of the workshop as an interface between knowledge and execution. He has directed
workshops, served as a member of
The Physics Teacher
editorial board, served on the Computers in
Physics Education Committee and on various task force groups. In 1995 AAPT recognized him as “a
teacher who has made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics” and awarded him
the Robert A. Millikan Medal.
The Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award is given in memory of Floyd K. Richtmyer, distinguished physicist,
teacher, and administrator. Professor Richtmyer was one of the founders of AAPT and served as its presi-
dent. As a teacher, author, research worker, and dean, he was the guide for many young physicists who
became leaders of American science and he has had a wide influence on the development of physics in the
United States. The award has been given since 1941 to a person who has made outstanding contributions
to physics and effectively communicated those contributions to physics educators.
The Oersted Medal is named for Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851), a Danish physicist who, in the course
of creating a demonstration for teaching his class, discovered that electric currents caused a magnetic field.
This was a crucial step in establishing the theory of electromagnetism, so important in building modern tech-
nology and modern physics. The award was established by AAPT in 1936.
Oersted Medal
Physics Education
Research and Teaching
Modern Modern Physics
Tuesday, January 7
10–11 a.m.
Grand Ballroom B
Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award
How Quantum Physics
Democratized Music
Monday, January 6
9:30 –10:30 a.m.
Grand Ballroom B
