An appreciation of Pam Aycock

The year is 2000, and the air is ripe with the possibility of fall while still harboring some of the oppressive heat of late summer. The world had made it through Y2K without crashing to a halt, despite many computers not knowing the difference between 1900 and 2000. A fresh college graduate named Pam steps up to her new job to give editorial assistance for a journal called The Physics Teacher.

… And assist she does! For 22 years thereafter, Pam Aycock’s contributions to TPT helped to ensure that it continues to provide good guidance for physics teachers of the introductory curriculum everywhere, working with previous editor Karl Mamola from 2000 to 2013, and with yours truly from 2013 to 2022. While the job title changed from Editorial Assistant to Senior Editorial Associate to Managing Editor, Pam was always at the heart of the communications necessary to put out such a publication month after month.

In fact, most of the successes of TPT over the past two-plus decades, including

1. the development of a full color publication from its black and white origins in the early 2000s

2. the production of the first online version of TPT in 2003

3. the gradual transition from largely paper communications to electronic manuscript handling

4. the special collection issues on race, gender, and the art and science of physics teaching, 2015–2020

5. the recent AAPT member survey result wherein TPT was ranked 1st in member benefits

6. and the record number of TPT printed pages in 2021,

Recently, TPT has seen a significant increase in overall submissions, reviews, published articles, abstract views, and full-text downloads—all good kinds of “problems” to have! Pam handled this extra workload with diligence and aplomb; furthermore, she contributed mightily to all aspects of the production, from the original brainstorming and artistic ideas to managing the thousands of messages among authors, reviewers, and editors to the sequencing, editing, and final layout of each issue.

So, kudos and thanks to you, Pam, for 22 years of excellent service to physics teachers and students everywhere. We at TPT will miss you, and all of AAPT will miss you as well, especially those who stop by the TPT booth at the AAPT meetings just to see your smiling face and soak in some of your warm enthusiasm. We all wish you well in your future endeavors, and please know that you are welcome to come back and visit anytime!

—Gary White