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Kyle Forinash2018 Millikan Medal Awarded to Kyle Forinash

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, MD, March 5, 2018—AAPT has announced that Kyle Forinash will receive the Robert A. Millikan Medal during the 2018 Summer Meeting in Washington, DC. This award recognizes educators who have made notable and intellectually creative contributions to the teaching of physics.

Forinash is emeritus professor of physics at Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN. In nominating him for this honor his colleagues noted his remarkable career as a physics educator with an interest in societal issues, as a department chair who has shaped the curriculum at his university, and as an author.

Regarding his receipt of the Millikan Medal, Forinash said, "I am stunned and honored to have even been considered for such a prestigious award. Thank you very, very much."

After receiving his B.S. from the University of Georgia, Forinash worked as a physics teacher with the Peace Corps in Ghana. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Clemson while he worked as a Teaching Assistant. Before taking a position at Indiana University Southeast in 1985 he was Visiting Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University. Forinash was Coordinator of Physics at Indiana University Southeast for 32 years. During this time, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina, a visiting scientist at Los Alamos, and the author of a BA degree program with a physics major at IUS. 

He has produced two high-quality interactive electronic books which are available from the AAPT ComPADRE web site. Sound: An Interactive eBook is an introduction to the physics of sound and Waves: An Interactive Tutorial includes advanced material on waves, nonlinear waves and solitons. Waves received two awards for online materials: the Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning "MPTL Excellence Award for a Multimedia Resource" (2013);and the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and On-line Teaching, "Award for Exemplary Online Learning Resources –MERLOT Classics 2014". His most recent book, "Physics and the Environment," was published by IOP Press in 2017.

In addition to writing texts, Forinash's leadership and creativity as a teacher show in innumerable other activities and accomplishments. In addition to authoring and implementing a BA degree in physics he was also co-author of the recently approved BA and BS degrees in Sustainability and Regeneration at IUS. He is also the author of more than 30 peer-reviewed articles (10 with student co-authors) in non-linear physics, physics pedagogy, and other topics. 

His work has been supported by the NSF, Indiana University, the APS, and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (Fulbright). He has won the Indiana University Trustees Award and was selected for the Indiana University Faculty Colloquium for Excellence in Teaching (FACET) at Indiana University. He has taught service courses for non-science students, introductory level, and upper division physics, face-to-face and distance courses, "History and Philosophy of Science," courses in environmental issues and a graduate course on interactive teaching using technology in Spanish in Argentina. 

About the Award
The Robert A. Millikan Medal recognizes those who have made notable and intellectually creative contributions to the teaching of physics. The recipient delivers an address at an AAPT Summer Meeting and receives a monetary award, the Millikan Medal, an Award Certificate, and travel expenses to the meeting.

Previous Awardees

2017, Ken Heller, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

2016, Stephen Pompea, National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ

2015, Robert A. Morse, St. Albans School, Washington, DC

2014, Eugenia Etkina, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

2013, Harvey Gould, Clark University, Worcester, MA

2012, Philip Sadler, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA

Additional winners

About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists—with members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact David Wolfe, Director of Communications, dwolfe@aapt.org, (301)209-3322, (301)209-0845 (Fax)