JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has been awarded the 2021 Boulder Faculty Excellence Award. This award was given specifically for Lewandowski's excellence in teaching and pedagogy. The Boulder Faculty Excellence Awards strive to recognize advances within the university. Candidates are nominated based on innovative practices and classroom teaching. Letters from students and colleagues testify to a candidate's success and allow the selection committee to award a candidate fairly and accurately.
Heather Lewandowski's group focuses on experimental cold molecular physics and physics education research. Lewandowski not only has dedication in her laboratory, but studies how students learn experimental physics. With both research topics having interdisciplinary approaches, it's no wonder Lewandowski was selected for this award. Congratulations!
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.