Dr. Helen Quinn

Biography

Helen Quinn received her Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University in 1967 and has since taught at Harvard and Stanford. As a particle physicist, she has received several prestigious awards including the Dirac Medal from the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Italy, the Klein Medal from the Swedish National Academy of Sciences, the Sakurai Prize from the American Physical Society, and the Compton Medal from the American Institute of Physics, awarded every four years. In 2018, she was honored with the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics from the Franklin Institute. Helen is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. She also served as president of the American Physical Society and is originally from Australia, where she was made an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia. Since retiring in 2010, Helen has been active in science education, being a founding member of the Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP), which produced the standard-model poster used in schools starting in 1987. She has also served as chair of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Science Education and contributed to the development of various influential educational standards. Between 2015 and 2018, she was appointed by the President of Ecuador as a member of the 'Comision Gestora' to guide the initial development of the National University of Education of Ecuador.

Research Interests