Bob Marchini (center) is shown as he was presented the award by Tom Clegg, SESAPS Chair. Marchini was nominated for, and introduced before receiving the award, by his department chair, M. Shah Jahan (left).

Professor Robert R. (Bob) Marchini of the Department of Physics at the University of Memphis was selected to receive the 2007 George B. Pegram award of the Southeastern Section of the APS, in recognition for his many years of outstanding college physics teaching in the Southeast. The award was presented on November 9 at the 2007 SESAPS fall meeting in Nashville.

Marchini is noted especially for his teaching of intro­duc­tory engineering physics courses, with frequent humor and many classroom demonstra­tions. Few University of Memphis students enter as declared physics majors, but fully half of those who graduate in physics were attracted to the discipline by having been taught by Bob Marchini. As their undergraduate advisor, he often later guides these physics majors to departmental faculty who supervise their under­graduate research projects. This has led in the last 15 years to over 100 undergraduate names on departmental research publications.

Marchini’s teaching extends frequently to groups beyond his own campus. Under the auspices of the Tennessee Academy of Science, he has spoken to thousands of pre-college students. He has also taught over 1300 in-service elementary, middle, and high-school teachers, activities for which he has received substantial recognition.

Now in his 40^th year of teaching at Memphis, Marchini has during his career garnered every teaching award available in the State of Tennessee. At his home institution, he has won annual teaching awards four times. Among these was the Briggs “Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award,” the highest University of Memphis teaching honor. In 1999 Marchini was picked from among 23 nominees from institutions across the state as the “Tennessee University Science Educator of the Year.”

Thus with the 2007 Pegram Award, SESAPS is honored in this final year before his retirement to recognize Bob Marchini’s long, distinguished, and highly effective physics teaching career.