James H. Stith (born July 17, 1941) is an American physicist and educator. He is known for his influential roles in multiple scientific societies. He is the former vice president of the Physics Resource Center at the

American Institute of Physics The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...

, a past president of the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

, and a past president of the

National Society of Black Physicists The National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), established in the United States in 1977, is a non-profit professional organization with the goal to promote the professional well-being of African Diaspora physicists and physics students within the ...

Life and career

Stith was born on July 17, 1941, to Ruth Stith in

Brunswick County, Virginia Brunswick County is a United States county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This rural county is known as one of the claimants to be the namesake of Brunswick stew. Brunswick County was created in 1720 from parts ...

where he grew up on a tobacco farm. He had three step-sisters and one half sister. He graduated from James Solomon Russell High School in 1959. Stith received his B.S. in physics (1963) and M.S. in physics (1964) from

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...

. During college he became a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. After earning his master's, he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, where he served in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and at Fort Lewis in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

from 1965 to 1967. Stith then worked for the

Radio Corporation of America The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

from 1967 to 1969, before moving to

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

for a D.Ed. in Physics (1972). The chair of the department, David H. Rank, supervised his dissertation, entitled: "Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Liquids at High Pressure." Upon leaving Pennsylvania, Stith had difficulty finding a position, so he re-enrolled in the Army. Stith worked from 1972 to 1993 at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

as a professor of physics. In 1976 he became the first tenured African American professor at the academy. He was a physics professor at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1993 - 1998. In 1998, he became AIP's director of physics programs. As director of physics programs, he was responsible for the American Institute of Physics' career services, education, public information and statistics divisions, its history section and its magazines. In 2008, he retired as AIP's Vice President of Physics Resources Center and was named Vice President Emeritus. Stith has published a large number of papers in ''

The Physics Teacher ''The Physics Teacher'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by AIP Publishing on behalf of the American Association of Physics Teachers covering the history and philosophy of physics, applied physics, physics education (curriculum devel ...

'', ''

Physics Today ''Physics Today'' is the membership magazine of the American Institute of Physics. First published in May 1948, it is issued on a monthly schedule, and is provided to the members of ten physics societies, including the American Physical Society. I ...

'', and the ''

American Journal of Physics The ''American Journal of Physics'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics. The editor-in-chief is Beth Parks of Colgate University."Current Fre ...

'' and has been guest speaker at many scientific events and conferences.

Professional honors

*1992 Charter Fellow of the National Society of Black Physicists *1992 Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia State University *1994 Archie L. Lacey Memorial Award of the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

*1995 Distinguished Service Citation of the American Association of Physics Teachers *1996 Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

*1997 Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

*2005 Alumni Fellow of The Pennsylvania State University *2007 National Academies Education Mentor in the Life Sciences *2008 Honorary Member,

Sigma Pi Sigma Sigma Pi Sigma (), founded at Davidson College on December 11, 1921, is the oldest and only American honor society for physics and astronomy. It is an organization within the Society of Physics Students and the American Institute of Physics and ...

Physics Honor Society *2014 Fellow of the American Association of Physics Teachers *2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award *2020 Fellow of the African Scientific Institute

Professional affiliations

Since 1964 Stith has been a member of the

(AAPT), where he became of Vice President in 1990, succeeding Thomas D. Rossing. In the subsequent four years he became President Elect, President, and then Past President. As part of his involvement in AAPT, Stith has also served on the editorial board of ''The Physics Teacher'' and chaired multiple committees. He is a past-president of the National Society of Black Physicists. Stith has served on numerous national panels and committees. He is also affiliated with the

, and the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript for James Stith on 14 August 2009, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Archival collections

AIP Physics Resources Center records of James Stith, 1987-2009, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stith, James 1941 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Ohio State University faculty Virginia State University alumni Scientists from Virginia 21st-century African-American scientists 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics Fellows of the American Physical Society African-American physicists Presidents of the American Association of Physics Teachers