Schmiedekamp receives President's Award for Engagement with Students

Ann Schmiedekamp

University Park, Pa. -- Ann Schmiedekamp, associate professor of physics at Penn State Abington, is the 2006 recipient of the President's Award for Engagement with Students.

The award is given to a full-time member of the faculty who goes beyond her responsibilities to engage and encourage students in learning, demonstrating deep caring and involvement.

Schmiedekamp is recognized with this award for her "limitless dedication and care for students' success."

"Over the years, Dr. Schmiedekamp's activities on behalf of student engagement have been sustained, broad and impressive," said her nominators.

Schmiedekamp is lauded as a pioneer of a flourishing undergraduate research program at Penn State Abington. Fifteen years ago -- at a time when undergraduate involvement in scholarly research was not as prevalent as it is today – one of Schmiedekamp's undergraduate researchers was joint author on a publication in a major research journal. Since that time, Schmiedekamp has continued to prove her commitment to undergraduate research in a variety of ways.

Among Schmiedekamp's accomplishments is her voluntary work with several students on Abington College Undergraduate Research Activities (ACURA) who present their projects at poster sessions on the Abington campus.

In addition, Schmiedekamp has guided and directed the research of Abington-based Schreyer Honors College students and accompanied them to a University-wide undergraduate research fair at the University Park campus. She also has accompanied students to conduct and/or present research at the Central Pennsylvania Astronomer's Consortium, American Association of Physics Teachers meetings, and the National Cancer Institute's supercomputing facility in Frederick, Md.

Committed to continuous advancement in learning and teaching techniques, Schmiedekamp obtained a grant from Penn State's Schreyer Institute for Innovation in Learning for the purpose of supervising undergraduate interns to develop hands-on activities to foster interactive, collaborative learning in large astronomy classes.

Schmiedekamp has encouraged students to become actively involved in astronomy research through participation, each semester, in the Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomy Star Parties and in special astronomy outreach events such as Saturnfest in January 2004 and Marsfest in January 2003. Further demonstrating her dedication to studies and outreach in the field of astronomy, Schmiedekamp has volunteered as a NASA Solar System Ambassador since 1999 and regularly offers presentations to apprise the general public of NASA missions.

"She has relentlessly and tirelessly engaged students, instilling confidence and providing encouragement," said one of her nominators.

Schmiedekamp earned her B.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas. She is author or co-author of 19 peer-reviewed publications and has been invited to speak on her research at locations across the globe.