2019
SPS Outstanding Chapter Advisor
Augustana College
Dr. Cecilia Vogel obtained a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University and a PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Minnesota. Since then, she has taught at Augustana College, emphasizing effective teaching and undergraduate research. She has been SPS Zone 9 Councilor since 2017.
Augustana's SPS chapter has won numerous awards over the 26 years she has been advising. During this time she learned to advise SPS the way she teaches: don’t do it for them, since they learn from the effort and the struggle and the accomplishments. The student members learn to lead, organize, and follow through, while Dr. Vogel advises, encourages, and provides institutional memory. Outreach has been a big emphasis for Augustana’s SPS chapter during this time, including grade-school classroom demos, Science Night participation, physics and astronomy open houses, summer class for junior high girls, after-school programs, public library presentation, and high school robotics team mentoring.