Mary Beth Monroe

The Society of Physics Students joins the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and many others in the physics community around the country in mourning the loss of Mary Beth Monroe on August 27, 2013. Mary Beth was a lifelong member of SPS and served as the SPS chapter advisor at Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, Texas, where she taught for over 38 years. She was dedicated to her students and consistently devoted her work to their development. Mary Beth served in many leadership positions, including several terms as the SPS zone 13 councilor and various roles in the Texas section of the AAPT and the national AAPT. One of her many contributions was leading a study to establish the important role of physics education at two-year colleges, a study resulting in guidelines that continue to have an impact.

In memory of Mary Beth Monroe, friends and colleagues have expressed interest in supporting an endowed scholarship in her name. For an in-depth feature on Mary Beth’s legacy, and information on the memorial scholarship, please see the Fall 2013 issue of The SPS Observer magazine, at www.spsobserver.org/2013/fall-singularities.pdf .