On the day that Professor Wieman received the Nobel Prize for physics in 2001, he insisted that the time of a news conference be moved up 15 minutes. It was so that he would not be late to teach his undergraduate class on physics for nonscience majors. An unwavering dedication to undergraduate teaching has been a hallmark of his career. Professor Wieman is a CU- Boulder distinguished professor of physics and a CU Presidential Teaching Scholar, and he also heads the science education initiative he founded in 2007 at the University of British Columbia. He has worked at both institutions on collaborative initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable change in under- graduate science education. Wieman has conducted research in a variety of areas of atomic physics and laser spectroscopy. Inside the classroom, he has worked on a variety of educational research projects and innovations in teaching physics to students, including the Physics Education Technology Project that provides interactive online physics instruction. In 2001, Wieman was one of the first seven scientists and engineers in the United States to receive the National Science Foundation’s Director’s Awards for Distinguished Teaching Scholars. Among his numerous awards beyond his Nobel Prize are the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, the Carnegie Foundation’s University Professor of the Year Award in 2004, the King Faisal International Prize for Science, the Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science, and the Richtmyer Lecture Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers.
