Follow SPS on:

The Education Division is housed within the Physics Resource Center of the American Institute of Physics, led by Vice President Catherine O'Riordan.

Introducing the AIP Education Division & SPS National Office Staff

Jack G. Hehn
Director, Education, AIP
Phone: 301-209-3010
Fax: 301-209-0839
E-mail: jhehnaip.org

« back to top

Jack G. Hehn has a wide range of experience in physics and science education, having taught students in elementary school through graduate school. He received a BS in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin (1971), an MS in Physics from Texas A&M University (1976), and a PhD (1990) from the University of North Texas, with a dissertation involving the professional development of teaching assistants within a multimedia freshman physics instructional laboratory. Hehn taught four years at Lamar High School in Arlington, TX, 13 years at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX, and nine years at Tarrant County Junior College in Ft. Worth, TX. He has served in administrative and faculty roles within physics departments for 17 years and has spent much time developing and teaching the freshman physical science course for pre-service teachers, developing mentoring and training programs for teaching assistants, and developing instructional laboratory programs using multimedia and interactive computer technologies. He has concentrated more on science and science education policy during the past eight years. In 1992, Hehn joined the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) as the Associate Executive Officer. His responsibilities included creating an information technology base for the core business of AAPT, developing an array of World Wide Web based electronic member and publishing services, and working with AAPT educational programs and liaison programs with other societies. Two of the projects involved the creation of a high school-level textbook, Active Physics; and a college-level physical science course for pre-service teachers, Powerful Ideas in Physical Science. He was also active in the effort to create national science standards and in the development of a large-scale networking project for two-year colleges, The Two-Year College in the Twenty First Century, TYC21.

While on leave from AAPT, Hehn served three years (1996-1999) as a program consultant and program officer with the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) for the National Science Foundation (NSF). At NSF he worked with the Advanced Technology Education (ATE) program, counseled NSF staff on efforts involving two-year colleges, contributed to teacher preparation and project evaluation efforts, and worked with discipline-based physics proposals. In August 1999, Hehn joined the American Institute of Physics (AIP) as the Manager of the Education Division. He has been, and continues to be, active in proposing and directing large scale educational programs, including science policy review and commentary, curriculum development, and technology and multimedia program development. Much of his current effort is directed toward encouraging and supporting collaborations between learned societies and among affinity groups within the Physics, Astronomy, Earth Systems, and Allied Science Community.

Gary White
Director
SPS & Sigma Pi Sigma
Phone: 301-209-3013
Fax: 301-209-0839
E-mail: gwhite@aip.org

« back to top

Gary White grew up in rural Sterlington, Louisiana, earning a BS in physics in 1982 at Northeast La. University (now University of La.---Monroe). He received his Ph.D. in nuclear theory at Texas A & M University (TAMU) in 1986, later worked in the theory division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and eventually became interested in ion beams and lithography during a postdoctoral appointment in 1991. Recently, his interests have broadened to include physics pedagogy, especially the use of research as a teaching tool, as well as some quirkier areas such as the physics of Spandex and rolling unfair dice. As engaging as these research topics might sound to some, teaching and mentorship are his primary interests. Over the past 20 years, in addition to short stints teaching mathematics at TAMU and modern physics for non-majors at The George Washington University, he earned most of his teaching stripes in physics and astronomy classrooms at Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU), being awarded Outstanding Teacher by the NSU Alumni Association in 1996. As Society of Physics Student (SPS) advisor at NSU, he guided the chapter to a significant increase in activity, including the development of many science outreach projects for school classrooms, and several SPS Undergraduate Research Awards. In 1998, he was elected SPS Zone 10 Councilor and eventually, President of the National SPS Council.

White has published articles in Physical Review, Annals of Physics, The American Journal of Physics, The Physics Teacher, and The College Mathematics Journal. He has served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation, and in 1999 was appointed to the nine-member national Advisory Committee on Physics Education for the American Institute of Physics (AIP). In June 2001, White joined AIP as Director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society, and Assistant Director of Education.

Thomas Olsen
Assistant Director
SPS & Sigma Pi Sigma
Phone: 301-209-3009
Fax: 301-209-0839
E-mail: tolsen@aip.org

« back to top

Dr. Thomas Olsen, former physics department chair at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, has taken on a new role as Assistant Director of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and for Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society. 

Olsen, an expert on chaotic patterns in fluid flow, is focusing his attention on developing new resources for physics bachelor’s degree recipients as they plan their career trajectories.

Olsen led his campus’s chapter of SPS to numerous national awards, and in 2006, he was recognized as Teacher of the Year at Lewis and Clark College. He has served on the SPS national Council for more than a decade, first as the faculty representative from Zone 17 (Northwest US), then as the President of Sigma Pi Sigma from 1998-2002; he currently serves as the SPS national Historian.

In 2004, Olsen served as Program Chair of the Quadrennial Congress of Sigma Pi Sigma, and he has been instrumental in planning the 2008 Congress held at FermiLab, IL. He has also served as President of the Oregon Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers and Secretary/Treasurer of the Northwest Section of the American Physical Society. Dr. Olsen has garnered over a quarter of a million dollars in research grant funding, and led numerous students and high-school teachers in research projects ranging from vortex flow dynamics to measurements of eclipsing binary star systems.

Olsen holds BS degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MS and PhD in physics from University of Southern California.

« back to top 

Doug Dalton handles Education Division photocopying and mailings, and maintains inventory & supplies for the Society of Physics Students, Sigma Pi Sigma and the AIP Corporate Associates Program. He also serves as the SPS Clerk, and keeps the supply room & office organized and functional.

Doug also sets up and maintains division displays at meetings and conferences at the American Center for Physics, home to AIP and three other Member Societies.

Dr. Dwight E. Neunschwander, Professor of Physics at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK, is former Director, Education at the American Institute of Physics, and former Director of SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.

Dr. Neunschwander writes for and handles editing of the SPS Observer (formerly the SPS Newsletter), The Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics (JURP), Radiations, the official publication of Sigma Pi Sigma, and other publications. He is also the At-Large member of the SPS Executive Committee.

Sacha Purnell, the SPS Secretary, handles SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma membership processing, customer service, and is responsible for sending out induction materials and other SPS/Sigma Pi Sigma-related products. She is also handles all other secretarial duties for the student societies and Education Division.

« back to top 

Lydia Quijada coordinates SPS Zone Meeting planning and funding in the SPS national office, maintains Sigma Pi Sigma membership information and the Sigma Pi Sigma database, and staffs AIP's traveling exhibit booth at science & education conferences around the United States. She is also a member of the Education Division Communications Team, assisting with web development and printed materials.

Kendra Rand
Program Coordinator
Phone: 301-209-3047
Fax: 301-209-0839
E-mail: krand@aip.org

« back to top

A Midwesterner to the core, Kendra Rand received her BA in physics from Carthage College in Kenosha, WI and her MS in Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Before coming to SPS she worked in public outreach for the American Physical Society and freelanced for the Materials Research Society Bulletin. Kendra is the program coordinator of the Society of Physics Students.

Tracy M. Schwab
Communications Coordinator & Webmaster
Phone: 301-209-3255
Fax: 301-209-0839
E-mail: tschwab@aip.org

« back to top

Tracy M. Schwab, originally from Star Valley, WY, graduated from Utah State University in 1993 with a BA in Liberal Arts & Sciences. He completed three core areas of study within his major: Science and Society, Theories of Beauty, and Ethics in Science. He also received a certificate in International Relations and minored in both German and Political Science. Tracy was honored as the Outstanding Scholar from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences upon Graduation, and was a member of the Gold Key Honor Society; Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science Honor Society; and the Mortar Board Honor Society. He worked in the AIP Education Division from 1993-1997 as an Editor, Desktop Publishing Specialist and Meeting Exhibitor.

After a 4-year stint as a web designer and account manager in the "dot.com" world, Tracy returned to the AIP Education Division in 2001 as Communications Coordinator. In this position he serves as webmaster for the Education Division, the Society of Physics Students, and Sigma Pi Sigma; and as an editorial assistant for SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma publications. He leads the Education Division Communications Team, helps supervise SPS interns, and provides graphic design, photography and desktop publishing services for the Education Division and other AIP divisions.