Committee on Education

The Committee on Education (COE) provides guidance for and actively participates in APS activities related to physics education that are designated to it by the Council. Committee members provide advice to APS staff and the APS Council. Committee members also have the option to both participate in activities and lead activities related to this topic. The committee is responsible for convening the Education Policy Subcommittee (EPSC) as a permanent subcommittee, including representatives from outside COE. This subcommittee offers advice to APS on government policy issues related to physics education.

The membership of the COE includes the Chair, Past-Chair and Chair-Elect from the Forum on Education (FEd) and nine (9) members nominated by the Committee on Council Committees (CCC) and appointed by the President-Elect to staggered three (3) year terms. The committee has one (1) or two (2) members representing the Topical Group on Physics Education Research executive committee (GPER). The GPER representatives are recommended by the Chair GPER, in consultation with the executive committee, and they are appointed by the President-Elect as voting members to three (3) year terms.

The President-Elect appoints the Vice Chair, after consulting with the current committee members. The Vice Chair serves a one (1) year term, followed subsequently by a one (1) year term as Chair, and then a one (1) year term as Past Chair. The Vice Chair’s committee membership term is automatically extended to cover their service in the Chair line.

The COE is a Council Committee.

  • Gay Stewart, Chair
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    West Virginia University
  • Juan Manfredi, Vice Chair
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024)
    U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)
  • Lawrence Woolf, Past Chair
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024)
    General Atomics
  • Susan Blessing
    (Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2024)
    Florida State University
  • Eddie Red
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Morehouse College
  • Charles Henderson
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    Western Michigan University
  • Kasey Wagoner
    (Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2024)
    North Carolina State University
  • Neal Abraham
    (Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2024)
    Mount Holyoke College
  • James Napolitano
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Temple University
  • Erin Hansen
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Diablo Valley College
  • Daniel Claes
    (Jan 1, 2023 – Dec 31, 2025)
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  • Geraldine Cochran
    (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2026)
    Ohio State University
  • Michael Wittmann, Staff Liaison
    American Physical Society (APS)

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