Katherine Aidala of Mount Holyoke College Honored for Undergraduate Physics Teaching

Katherine Aidala, a professor of physics at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, has been selected to receive the 2020 Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution from the American Physical Society. The award is given to a physicist whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to physics, and whose mentoring has contributed substantially to the professional development of undergraduate physics students.

The citation honoring Professor Aidala reads: “For exceptionally creative and interdisciplinary research using scanning probe microscopy for novel studies of magnetic nanorings, biofilms, and organic semiconductors and for outstanding mentoring of women undergraduates, particularly through research collaborations.”

“It is incredibly gratifying to be recognized in this way for all the hard work I, along with my students, postdoctoral researchers, and collaborators, have put into research at Mount Holyoke College over the years,” said Dr. Aidala. “Mount Holyoke facilitates cutting-edge research and the dedicated students in my lab have been a pleasure to work with and mentor. I am honored to receive this prize.”

Dr. Aidala is a graduate of Yale University, where she double majored in applied physics and psychology. She received her Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University in 2006.