Chicago State Physics Professor, Dr. Mel S. Sabella Elected as a 2019 Fellow of the American Physical Society

The American Physical Society (APS) announced the election of Physics CSU Professor, Dr. Mel S. Sabella to Fellow by the APS Council of Representatives at its fall meeting. He was recommended by the APS Topical Group on Physics Education Research (GPER). The number of APS Fellows elected each year is limited to no more than one half of one percent of the membership, representing a prestigious recognition by his peers.

Dr. Sabella’s recognition is for his contributions to research in the field of introductory physics education courses designed to leverage the strengths of underserved and diverse populations and engage them as co-investigators, and for demonstrating the utility of nontraditional measures of success in physics education.

Dr. Sabella earned his Ph.D. in Physics Education Research from the University of Maryland before beginning his post doctorate work with the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. His research focuses on improving STEM education for underrepresented students by identifying and leveraging the resources, strengths and culture of this community to build inclusive classrooms.

Dr. Sabella is a Principal Investigator (PI) on a collaborative National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that focuses on the Learning Assistant (LA) Model. He is the Co-PI on an NSF S-STEM Project that provides different types of support for Chemistry and Physics majors. He has published papers in the Physics Teacher Magazine, the Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings, the Physics Education Research Supplement to the AJP, the Effective Practices in Preservice Physics Teacher Education; Recruitment, Retention, and Preparation book, and the Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Dr. Sabella is the current President of the American Association of Physics Teachers and has served on the AAPT Committee on Diversity, the Physics Education Leadership Organizing Council, and the APS Committee on Minorities, the APS Forum on Education, and the AAPT Committee in Physics Education Research. He co-organized the 2008 Physics Education Research (PER) Conference which focused on Diversity in PER, and in 2014 he co-organized the Gordon Research Conference: Physics Research and Education. He is heavily involved in the Learning Assistant (LA) Alliance and has co-hosted three regional LA Workshops and has assisted in the International LA Conferences.

About APS

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy and international activities.