2027 Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT to be Awarded to Stamatis Vokos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, MD, September 28, 2026—AAPT has announced that Stamatis Vokos will receive the association's Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT during their 2027 Winter Meeting. Vokos is recognized with the Homer L. Dodge citation for his seminal physics education research ranging from student understanding of relativity, energy, momentum, electromagnetic waves, and other concepts, to his sustained work in support of teacher preparation and more inclusive approaches. His contributions to AAPT, our physics education research community, and the broader physics education community are immeasurable.

Regarding his selection to receive this citation, Vokos said, “I am truly honored to receive this recognition from the society that has been my professional home for more than three decades. It has been a privilege to serve our Association. AAPT has unique insights into the needs of physics educators, from Pre-Kindergarten through graduate school (and beyond). At a time when STEM education is under threat by ideology inimical to science, willful ignorance, and disinformation campaigns, I call on AAPT leadership and fellow members to work with other physics-focused societies to address existential threats to the physics enterprise."

Vokos is Professor of Physics at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). Although his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and two postdoctoral appointments were in theoretical particle physics, his encounter with the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington led to his career in Physics Education Research. He has been investigating for more than thirty years how students learn physics, what resources they bring to classrooms, what social threats they experience in them, and how physics educators develop specialized, physics-specific knowledge to help students deepen their learning and strengthen their belonging in physics. He has been part of extensive national and international collaborations, including in Europe, Egypt, Qatar, and India.

Before joining Cal Poly in 2016, Vokos spent ten years at the University of Washington and fourteen years at Seattle Pacific University. As a member of AAPT since 1994, he has served the Association on the Committee on Graduate Education (2001-2003), Committee on Research in Physics Education (2003-2004), Committee on Teacher Preparation (2010-2013), and the PER Leadership Organizing Council (2014-2016). He was also a powerful voice for keeping the PER community within AAPT with the formation of the PER Topical Group.

About the Award

Established in 1953 and renamed in recognition of AAPT founder Homer L. Dodge in 2012, the Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT is presented to members in recognition of their exceptional contributions to the association at the national, sectional, or local level.

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), www.aapt.org.