physics

Margaret MacVicar

Margaret MacVicar is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Margaret MacVicar rather than just read about it. In short: Margaret L.A. (Scotty) MacVicar (November 20, 1943 – September 30, 1991) was an American physicist and educator.

Key takeaways

Margaret MacVicar belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Margaret MacVicar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Margaret MacVicar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Margaret L.A. (Scotty) MacVicar (November 20, 1943 – September 30, 1991) was an American physicist and educator. In addition to serving as MIT's Dean of Undergraduate Education (1985–1990), MacVicar is credited with founding the now widely emulated Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in 1969. MacVicar received her undergraduate and graduate degrees at MIT and joined the faculty, giving her the rare distinction of being a "MIT lifer."

Background MacVicar was born on November 20, 1943, in Hamilton, Ontario to George and Elizabeth MacVicar. Her family relocated to Flint, Michigan in 1946 where she lived until she graduated from high school in 1961. Because she had been taking classes at a local junior college as a high school student, a local retired General Motors senior executive offered to help defray the costs of attending MIT. At MIT, she was one of the first residents of the McCormick Hall women's dormitory, which opened in the fall of 1963. She was the president of the Association of Women students, and also served as a physics tutor at McCormick Hall; Shirley Ann Jackson was one of the students she tutored. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1964 (although she is often identified as a member of the class of 1965, with whom she entered MIT; compare and ) and a doctor of science (Sc.D) degree in metallurgy and materials science in 1967. Between 1967 and 1969, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the Royal Society Mond section of the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. In 1969, she joined the department of physics at MIT, where her research investigated high-temperature metal and ceramic superconductors, single crystal and thin-film materials research, and detecting corrosion kinetics using superconducting magnetometry. As dean for undergraduate education, she worked to recruit more women, minorities, and students of varied interests, implemented changes in the humanities and social science requirements, and publicly criticized a Department of Defense policy barring homosexuals from ROTC programs. MacVicar was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Clarkson University in 1985. She was Orator at the 1984 Literary Exercises of Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard University; Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Texas in 1979; and Vollmer W. Fries Lecturer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976. She was a member of the corporations of the Charles S. Draper Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a trustee of Radcliffe College and of the Boston Museum of Science, and a director of Exxon Corporation, the Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society and H. W. Brady Company. She was a fellow of the American Physical Society. In 1986, MacVicar was awarded the Valeria A. Knapp Award by The College Club of Boston in memory of the teacher and director of The Winsor School, a girls' college prep school, from 1951 to 1963. She died on September 30, 1991, at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, a year after being diagnosed with cancer.

UROP

MacVicar established the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in 1969 based upon a suggestion from Edwin H. Land. The program allows undergraduates to gain hands-on research experience with faculty members around the university and provides the laboratories with the funds to employ the students. More than 3,000 undergraduates (75% of the undergraduate population) participate annually. The program has since been cited as a model educational program by the Department of Education, National Science Foundation, and several private foundations.

MacVicar Faculty Fellows Each year, beginning in 1992, members of the faculty are selected as Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows "to recognize faculty members who have profoundly influenced our students through their sustained and significant contributions to teaching and curriculum development." The fellows are appointed for a ten-year term and receive support from the Teaching and Learning Laboratory. The fellows are announced on "MacVicar Day" in early March with roundtable discussions and symposia centered on various facets of undergraduate education such as curriculum requirements, mentoring, classrooms, international exposure.

Margaret L. A. MacVicar ’65, ScD ’67 Award The MIT Alumni Association and MIT created the Margaret L. A. MacVicar ’65, ScD ’67 Award, and each year "is given in recognition of innovation, dedication and meaningful impact for the Alumni Association or the Institute in any area of volunteer activity, demonstrating strong potential for future volunteer leadership for the Alumni Association."

References

External links Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Margaret MacVicar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Margaret MacVicar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Margaret MacVicar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Margaret MacVicar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Margaret MacVicar

In research: Margaret MacVicar appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Margaret MacVicar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Margaret MacVicar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1944 births, 1991 deaths, 20th-century American educators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Margaret MacVicar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Margaret MacVicar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Margaret MacVicar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Margaret MacVicar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Margaret MacVicar in simple terms?

Margaret L.A. (Scotty) MacVicar (November 20, 1943 – September 30, 1991) was an American physicist and educator.

Why does Margaret MacVicar matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Margaret MacVicar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Margaret MacVicar.