Gay Stewart

Gay Stewart received her PhD in particle physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1994. In 1993, she attended a conference on undergraduate faculty enhancement and became interested in physics education research. She accepted a faculty position at University of Arkansas in 1994, where she and her collaborator John Stewart focused on three primary interrelated issues: improving the introductory sequence to better prepare students to succeed in science and engineering degrees, improving the preparation of physics majors for the variety of career options open to physicists, and the preparation of future faculty, for both the high school level and the professoriate. The undergraduate program at UA saw dramatic improvement, with a 10-fold increase in number of graduates, with many receiving national awards. UA was one of six initial primary program institutions of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) and produces approximately two percent of the high school physics teachers with physics degrees nationally. Gay first received NSF support for her work in 1995. As a teaching assistant mentor, she developed a preparation program that grew into one of four sites for the NSF/AAPT “Shaping the Preparation of Future Science Faculty,” still active. She was co-PI of an NSF GK-12 project that placed fellows in middle school mathematics and science classrooms. The results were so favorable that helping math and science teachers to work together was a component of the $7.3M NSF-MSP, the College Ready in Mathematics and Physics Partnership.Through the Noyce program she received $1,050,000 for support of students and master physics teachers. In 2014, Gay transitioned to West Virginia University, where she is the Eberly Professor of STEM Education, as well as professor of Physics and director of the WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education. She is also co-director and PI of their UTeach replication site, WVUteach.

Gay is a Past President of the American Association of Physics Teachers. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and is currently the councilor representing the Forum on Education and also serves on the APS Board of Directors. She has served on the APS Forum on Education Executive Committee, both as the AAPT liaison and in the chair line; and the APS Committee on Education. She chaired the College Board’s Science Academic Advisory Committee, co-chaired the Advanced Placement Physics Redesign commission, and now the AP Physics 2 Development Committee. She was an author of the 6-12 College Board Science Standards for College Success. Gay was chosen the 2002 CASE Arkansas Professor of the Year, and has received numerous awards for teaching and advising.