# Lillian McDermott Medal

The Lillian McDermott Medal, established in 2021, is awarded annually by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Named after Lillian Christie McDermott, the Medal "recognizes those who are passionate and tenacious about improving the teaching and learning of physics and have made intellectually creative contributions in this area".
The Robert A. Millikan award was the medal previously given by the AAPT to individuals who provide notable contributions to the teaching of physics. The award was established in 1962; the winner received a monetary award and certificate and delivered an address at an AAPT summer meeting. In the spring of 2021, the AAPT Board of Directors removed Millikan's name from the award.

## Lillian McDermott Medal winners

| Year | Name | Institution | Address |
| 2024 | Stephanie Chasteen | | "You only get one—My life pursuing excellence in physics education" |
| 2022 | Wolfgang Christian | Davidson College | "The Promise and Impact of Computation for Teaching" |

## Robert A. Millikan Medal winners

| Year | Name | Institution | Address |
| 2021 | Gregory Francis | Montana State University | "Two Red Bricks: Is A Good Lecture Better Than No Lecture At All?" |
| 2020 | David M. Cook | Lawrence University | "Attempting the (seemingly) Impossible" |
| 2019 | Tom Greenslade | Kenyon College | "Adventures with Oscillations and Waves" |
| 2018 | Kyle Forinash III | Indiana University Southeast | "Breaking out of the Physics Silo" |
| 2017 | Kenneth Heller | University of Minnesota | "Can We Get There from Here?" |
| 2016 | Stephen M. Pompea | National Optical Astronomy Observatory | "Knowledge and Wonder: Reflections on Ill-Structured Problem Solving" (Video on YouTube) |
| 2015 | Robert A. Morse | St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) | "Facets of Physics Teaching-Pedagogical Engineering in the High School Classroom" |
| 2014 | Eugenia Etkina | Rutgers University | "Students of Physics: Listeners, Observers, or Collaborative Participants?" |
| 2013 | Harvey Gould | Clark University | "New Challenges for Old Physics Departments" |
| 2012 | Philip M. Sadler | Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics | "Separating Facts From Fad: How Our Choices Impact Students' Performance and Persistence in Physics" |
| 2011 | Brian Jones | Colorado State University | "All I Really Need to Know About Physics Education I Learned in Kindergarten" |
| 2010 | Patricia M. Heller | University of Minnesota | "Guiding the Future: Developing Research-based Physics Standards" |
| 2009 | Arthur Eisenkraft | University of Massachusetts Boston | "Physics for All: From Special Needs to Olympiads" |
| 2008 | Eric Mazur | Harvard University | "The Make-Believe World of Real-World Physics" |
| 2007 | David Sokoloff | University of Oregon | "Building a New, More Exciting Mouse Trap is Not Enough" |
| 2006 | Art Hobson | University of Arkansas | "Thoughts on Physics Education for the 21st Century" |
| 2005 | John S. Rigden | Washington University in St. Louis | "The Mystique of Physics: Relumine the Enlightenment" |
| 2004 | Kenneth S. Krane | Oregon State University | "The Challenges of Teaching Modern Physics" |
| 2003 | Fred M. Goldberg | San Diego State University | "Research and Development in Physics Education: Focusing on Students' Thinking" |
| 2002 | Simon George | California State University | "Global Study of the Role of the Laboratory in Physics Educations" |
| 2001 | Sallie A. Watkins | University of Southern Colorado | "Can "Descriptive" End with "A"?" |
| 2000 | Thomas D. Rossing | Northern Illinois University | "Beauty in Physics and the Arts" |
| 1999 | Alan Van Heuvelen | Ohio State University | "Research About Physics Learning, Linguistics, Our Minds, and the Workplace" |
| 1998 | Edward F. Redish | University of Maryland | "Building a Science of Teaching Physics: Learning What Works and Why" |
| 1997 | David Griffiths | Reed College | "Is there a Text in This Class?" |
| 1996 | Priscilla Laws | Dickinson College | "Promoting Active Learning Based on Physics Education Research in Introductory Physics Courses" |
| 1995 | Dean Zollman | Kansas State University | "Do They Just Sit There? Reflections on Helping Students Learn Physics" |
| 1994 | Frederick Reif | Carnegie-Mellon University | "Understanding and Teaching Important Scientific Thought Processes" |
| 1993 | James A. Minstrell | Mercer Island High School | "Creating an Environment for Reconstructing Understanding and Reasoning about the Physical World" |
| 1992 | Robert G. Fuller | University of Nebraska at Lincoln | "Hypermedia and the Knowing of Physics Standing Upon the Shoulders of Giants" |
| 1991 | Don Herbert | Mr. Wizard Studios | "Behind the Scenes of Mr. Wizard" |
| 1990 | Lillian C. McDermott | University of Washington | "What We Teach and What Is Learned—Closing the Gap" |
| 1989 | Peter Lindenfeld | Rutgers University | "The Einsteinization of Physics" |
| 1988 | Robert G. Greenler | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | "Beetles, Bubbles, and Butterflies Iridescence in Nature" |
| 1987 | Donald Glenn Ivey | University of Toronto | "Educational Television An Oxymoron?" |
| 1986 | Mario Iona | University of Denver | "Why Johnny Can't Learn Physics from Textbooks I have Known" |
| 1985 | James Gerhart | University of Washington | "Handling Numbers" |
| 1984 | Earl F. Zwicker | Illinois Institute of Technology | "Life, Learning, and the Phunomenological [sic] Approach" |
| 1983 | Gerald F. Wheeler | Montana State University | "The Emerging Telecommunications Network: New Conduit to Learners" |
| 1982 | Paul G. Hewitt | City College of San Francisco | "The Missing Essential A Conceptual Understanding of Physics" |
| 1981 | Albert A. Bartlett | University of Colorado at Boulder | "Are We Overlooking Something?" |
| 1980 | Thomas D. Miner | Garden City High School | "Prides and Prejudices of a Physics Teacher" |
| 1979 | Alexander Calandra | Washington University in St. Louis | "The Art of Teaching Physics" |
| 1978 | Alfred Bork | University of California at Irvine | "Interactive Learning" |
| 1977 | C. Luther Andrews | State University of New York at Albany | "Microwave Optics" |
| 1976 | Tung Hon Jeong | Lake Forest College | "Holography" |
| 1975 | Harold A. Daw | New Mexico State University | "Physics Instructional Apparatus and Things" |
| 1974 | Harald Jensen | Lake Forest College | "A Retired Physics Teacher Reminisces" |
| 1973 | Frank Oppenheimer | The Exploratorium | "Teaching and Learning" |
| 1972 | Arnold A. Strassenburg | State University of New York at Stony Brook | "The Evolution of Physics Teaching" |
| 1971 | Harry F. Meiners | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | "Problems of Science Education in Underdeveloped Countries" |
| 1970 | Franklin Miller, Jr. | Kenyon College | "A Long Look at the Short Film" |
| 1969 | John M. Fowler | University of Maryland | "Content and Process in Physics Teaching" |
| 1968 | Alan Holden | Bell Telephone Laboratories | "Artistic Invitations to the Study of Physics" |
| 1967 | Gerald Holton | Harvard University | "Oildrops and Subelectrons" |
| 1966 | Alan M. Portis | University of California, Berkeley | "Electrons, Photons, and Students" |
| 1965 | John G. King | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | "The Undergraduate Physics Laboratory and Reality" |
| 1964 | H. Victor Neher | California Institute of Technology | "Millikan: Teacher and Friend" |
| 1962 | Paul E. Klopsteg | Northwestern University | "The Early Days of the American Association of Physics Teachers" |