Student Honored with Highest National Award for Future Physics Teachers

Sarah Pfluger, a Physics and Mathematics Education major at Illinois State University, is the recipient of the Barbara Lotze Scholarship for Future Teachers. The scholarship is supported by an endowment funded by Barbara Lotze awarded through the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).  It is the highest national award for undergraduate students studying to become high school physics teachers. Successful applicants receive a $2,000 grant. This scholarshiprecognizes Pfluger as one of the top two Physics Teacher Education candidates in the United States.

Ken Wester, director of the Physics Teacher Education program, describes Pfluger as "an exceptional student by any measure who is very deserving of this recognition. The AAPT Lotze scholarship recognizes the two most outstanding physics teacher education majors in the nation, strongly suggesting that Sarah is a rising star whose future as a physics teacher is one that should be tracked."

The American Association of Physics Teachers has as its goalensuring the "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." The AAPT has more than 11,000 members in 30 countries around the world.

Pfluger is secretary of both the Illinois State Physics Club and the Illinois State Honors Student Organization. She is also the service chair for the Presidential Scholars club, also through Illinois State.