UNM Physics Professor Zeilik to receive second international teaching award

April 15, 2003

UNM Physics Professor Zeilik to receive second international teaching award

Michael Zeilik, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Mexico, has been selected as the 2003 recipient of the Excellence in Introductory College Physics Teaching Award by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)

The award recognizes significant contributions to undergraduate physics teaching by an AAPT member for whom teaching is a primary responsibility. Recipients present a lecture at the AAPT summer meeting, which will be in Madison, Wis. Zeilik will receive $2,000, travel expenses to the meeting and a certificate. The awards ceremony and lecture is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 4.

Last year, Zeilik received the Astronomy Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society.

“I have been a member of the AAPT and AAS for more than 30 years,” he said. “I never expected these awards, especially back-to-back.”

At UNM, Zeilik specializes in introductory courses for the novice, non-science major student and is a pioneer in astronomy education research at the university level. He has garnered support for these undertakings from the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Zeilik has been a Woodrow Wilson fellow, National Science Foundation fellow, a Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Predoctoral fellow and a visiting professor at the Santa Fe Institute. At UNM, he has-been named a regents’ lecturer, the highest award for all-around performance by a faculty member. He is the author of four widely-used textbooks, “Astronomy: The Evolving Universe” (9th edition, Cambridge University Press, 2002), “Astronomy: The Cosmic Perspective” with J. Gaustad (2nd edition, Wiley, 1990), “Conceptual Astronomy” (1st edition, Wiley, 1993), and “Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics” with S. Gregory (4th edition, Saunders, 1998). Zeilik earned his Ph.D. in astronomy at Harvard University.

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