Amy Lisa Graves (also published as Amy L. Ritzenberg and Amy L. R. Bug) is a retired American physicist and physics educator, the Walter Kemp Professor Emerita in the Natural Sciences and Professor of Physics at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

. Her publications include works on

gender bias Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias, which occurs when one individual unconsciously attributes certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group of people ...

in physics,

physics education Physics education or physics teaching refers to the education methods currently used to teach physics. The occupation is called physics educator or physics teacher. Physics education research refers to an area of pedagogical research that seek ...

, and computational simulations of phenomena in

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid State of matter, phases, that arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms and elec ...

, including jamming.

Education and career

Graves is a 1975 graduate of

Laurel School Laurel School is a private school for girls in Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1896 by Jennie Prentiss and operates on two campuses; the Lyman Campus in Shaker Heights and the Butler Campus in Novelty. Notable alumn ...

, a private school for girls in Ohio. She double-majored in mathematics and physics at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

, graduating

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and as

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in Armenia, the Philippines, Canada, Afghanistan and the United States to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. ...

in 1979. She went to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

for graduate study, completing her Ph.D. there in 1984. Before becoming a faculty member at Swarthmore College in 1988, she was a postdoctoral researcher at

Exxon Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was form ...

from 1984 to 1986, and then at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1986 to 1988. She retired as Walter Kemp Professor Emerita in 2022.

Recognition

In 2018, Graves was elected as a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

(APS), after a nomination from the APS Forum on Education, "for extraordinary contributions to physics education, including creatively strengthening the teaching of computational physics and steadily engaging issues of gender and physics through presentations and publications".

Selected publications

*. *. *. *. *.

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Amy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American physicists American women physicists Physics educators Williams College alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Swarthmore College faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society