Aaron Titus to be Recognized as 2026 Recipient of the David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, Maryland, United States, March 12, 2026—The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has announced that Aaron Titus will receive the 2026 David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching. This award is given in recognition of contributions to undergraduate physics teaching, and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students. John Wiley & Sons is the principal source of funding for this award, through its donation to the AAPT.

Titus is recognized for his visionary leadership in building and strengthening undergraduate physics programs, his transformative teaching in large-enrollment courses, his dedicated mentorship of both students and faculty, and his influential contributions to physics education through WebAssign, the Open Source Physics project, and Matter & Interactions.

Titus is Teaching Professor and is a co-coordinator of Physics for Engineers and Scientists at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. He has been an active member of AAPT since 1995 and, besides the committees required as part of his Board of Directors role, he has served on the Lotze Scholarship, Physics in Undergraduate Education, Graduate Education in Physics, and Educational Technologies committees. He was elected and served as the Four-Year College Representative for AAPT from 2013-2016. In 2019 he was recognized for his service with the Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT.

In addition, he has been active in the North Carolina Section, serving as an officer, presenting talks (several receiving awards) and workshops as well as hosting several Section Meetings. He taught at High Point University from 2002–2022.  When he first arrived at High Point University, there was no physics department and no physics major. Titus was instrumental in creating a physics degree program as part of the Department of Chemistry. He was equally instrumental in the creation of a separate Department of Physics, and he served as its first Chair.

His research has been in development and research of multimedia-focused problems, where students are required to take data from an animation to solve a given problem. As a graduate student Titus co-developed WebAssign with Larry Martin. He is a co-author of the fifth edition of Matter & Interactions with Ruth Chabay, Bruce Sherwood, and Steve Spicklemire, and he is as an advocate for incorporating computation and research into the undergraduate physics curriculum starting in the first year.

Regarding his selection to receive this citation, Titus said, "This award is a recognition of those who poured into me: Ruth Chabay, Bruce Sherwood, Larry Martin, Wolfgang Christian, John Risley, and Bob Beichner. It’s also a recognition of my incredible colleagues and students at NC A&T, High Point University, and NC State University. My goal is to invest in others in the same way they invested in me.”

About the Award
The David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching was established as the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1993. It was renamed and substantially endowed in 2010 by John Wiley and Sons. Named for David Halliday and Robert Resnick, the award recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching undergraduate physics.

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.