FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The large round table in her office is always filled with students working. High school teachers praise her creative approaches to teaching physics and the physical sciences. Her peers call her an outstanding national leader in reforming physics education from grade school through graduate school.

No one who has ever watched her teach was surprised when Gay Stewart, associate professor of physics, was named the Arkansas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Since 1981, the U.S. Professors of the Year Program has rewarded outstanding professors for their dedication to teaching, commitment to students, and innovative instructional methods. It is the only national program to recognize college and university professors for their teaching skills.

"Dr. Stewart has been a leader in helping the physics department dramatically increase the number of majors it graduates. This success comes at a time when most physics departments are graduating declining numbers of majors and makes the department at the University of Arkansas a national model," said colleague Ruth Howes, the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Ball State University.

Stewart has not only developed new hands-on approaches for teaching undergraduate courses but has also led the effort to develop an intensive training program for graduate students who plan careers in teaching. The "Activity Guide for University Physics" she prepared has been requested by numerous universities both in the United States and abroad.

Under Stewart’s leadership, the University of Arkansas was chosen as one of only six in the United States to be a Primary Program Institution for the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC), a program funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal is to improve primary and secondary physics education in the United States by building strong coalitions among various institutions of higher education and the states and communities they serve.

She describes her teaching method as leading the student from concrete hands-on examples to conceptual understanding through group discussion, using an "idea first, name afterward" approach.

"To verify concepts, I use qualitative as well as quantitative experiments," said Stewart. "I strive to relate concepts to everyday phenomena familiar to the students, who are taught how to think about physics problems the way scientists actually think about them. I also encourage cooperative learning, which has been found to improve retention of female and minority students."

"She saw a potential in me that I had never even looked for myself," said former student Ryan Coffee, now studying for a doctorate in physics at the University of Connecticut. "Her confidence in that potential pushed me though the physics curriculum at breakneck speed, resulting in a very well-trained and highly motivated physicist. Not only had she unlocked a new passion, but also she materialized the opportunity to turn that passion into a career."

On November 21, Stewart traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive her award, joining four national winners and the other state winners at an awards luncheon held at the National Press Club and at an evening reception on Capitol Hill.

In 1905, Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, in order "to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching." The foundation is the third-oldest foundation in the nation. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which founded the award in 1981, is the largest international association of education institutions, serving more than 3,200 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 45 countries.

"By capturing the imagination of students, Dr. Stewart leads them to knowledge and a mastery of the material," said Fulbright College Interim Dean Donald Bobbitt. "She has transformed our physics department and in the process, gained the admiration and respect of her colleagues here and around the country. I can think of no more worthy candidate for the Professor of the Year Award on this campus or any other."

Past winners from the University of Arkansas include Jim Turpin, professor of chemical engineering, 1996; Elliott West, professor of history, 1995; and A. Wallace Cordes, professor of chemistry, 1990.

For information on other national and state winners, visit the CASE web site at http://www.case.org/poy/.