These papers have been indexed in the
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is a non-profit membership corporation created to promote the knowledge of physics and its application to human welfare. It is the mission of AIP to serve the sciences of physics and astronomy by serving its member societies, by serving individual scientists, and by serving students and the general public.
The AIP Physics Resources Center (PRC) provides the public and the scientific community with resources that advance physics as a discipline and a profession through: publishing up-to-date information on federal science policy and funding; supplying authoritative science news for print, radio and TV, and supporting science journalism; preserving and making known the history of modern physics and allied fields through the Niels Bohr Library and Archives, Emilio Segre Photo Archives, and a variety of publications and award-winning web exhibits; collaborating with government-funded projects to support science teachers and students, and providing leadership for support of physics undergraduate students; publishing reports on education and employment trends in physics and offers professional services in data collection and analysis; and fostering the industrial physics community with a variety of programs and an annual conference.
Dr. James Stith was the Vice President of PRC 1998 until 2008. He directed AIP's Magazine Division, the Media and Government Relations Division, the Education Division, the Center for the History of Physics, the Statistical Research Division and the Careers Division.
Stith received his M.S. in physics from Virginia State Universisty and earned his Ph.D. in physics from The Pennsylvania State University. A physics education researcher, his primary interests are in program evaluation, and teacher preparation and enhancement. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for programs that ensure ethnic and gender diversity in the sciences.
Dr. Stith was a professor of physics at The Ohio State University and spent 21 years on the faculty of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has also been a visiting associate professor at the United Air Force Academy, a visiting scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a visiting scientist at the University of Washington, and an associate engineer at the Radio Cooperation of America. He is a past president of both the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the National Society of Black Physicists, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, the National Society of Black Physicists, and a member of the Ohio Academy of Science. In 2004 he was named one of “50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science" by the magazines Science Spectrum and US Black Engineer & Information Technology. Additionally, he serves on a number of national and international advisory boards and has been awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters by his alma mater, Virginia State University. In October 2005, he was named an Alumni Fellow, the highest honor given by the Pennsylvania State University Alumni Association.
[Biographical information for James Stith condensed in part from his biographical information on the AIP website - http://www.aip.org/aip/stith.html, 11/16/2010]
This collection documents the work of James Stith, during his tenure as Vice President of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Physics Resource Center (PRC). The records mostly document Stith's involvement with various committees, workshops and other groups, on topics such as physics education, minorities in the sciences, as well as his involvement with assorted AIP committees and groups. The collection also contains a small amount of correspondence and a small subject file kept by Stith.
This collection is organized into three series:
Each series is arranged chronologically.
Permission of an officer of depositing organization required for access to records less than 25 years old.
Received from the office of James Stith, 2009.
Melanie J. Brown 2010.
Box [number], Folder [number], American Institute of Physics Physics Resources Center records of James Stith. American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, College Park, MD 20740, USA.