AAPT Distinguished Service Award
Receiving AAPT Homer L. Dodge Citation from AAPT President, Steve Iona.
I am very honoured and proud to receive AAPT Homer L. Dodge Distinguished Service Citation for my contributions to physics education. It might be immodest to write about myself, but it is also an opportunity for me to mention how tremendously important my AAPT, BCAPT , OAPT and CAP friends and colleagues have been in my life. So many people have supported me during my career (this is strange to think that I have been involved in physics education for almost 30 years now). It is so very special when your colleagues recognize what you do and appreciate it. I am so touched by my friends from BC Association of Physics Teachers (BCAPT) who wrote very touching and kind letter of nomination for me. THANK YOU!
By being actively involved in physics education community, I have made so many special friends (physics educators) over the years. I have learned a lot from them and I have been inspired by them. I also know that if they didn’t support me when I needed it the most (for example, when I had to commute between Vancouver and Toronto), I would not have had the opportunity to become a physics educator at the Faculty of Education at UBC. I know that it might sound like a cliche, and yet it my case, it is absolutely true – being a physics educator allowed me to be surrounded by many wonderful people. This is an opportunity for me also to mention my friends in Israel, UT Texas (Austin), Rutgers, NJ, Ryerson (Toronto, ON), UBC and of course my family who have done so much for me and who supported what I was trying to do. Lastly, I am so grateful to my students. If not for them – there would be no point for me to keep moving. I have interacted with so many wonderful students over the years. Many of these young people have become very successful adults. This truly makes me feel good – I am mostly grateful that I had an opportunity to help young people to achieve their dreams. I also hope that I planted some physics seeds in their souls and even if most of them will never become physicists and maybe only some of them will become science, mathematics and physics teachers, I hope they will be interested in physics for the rest of their lives… I also hope they will pass this interest to their own children and students… Thank you, AAPT, for this very special award.