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Melanie McDermott
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Lillian Christie McDermott

We created a GatheringUs memorial to celebrate the life of Lillian Christie McDermott. Collecting your stories and memories here will offer us great comfort. Information will be forthcoming on where contributions may be made in honor of her memory. Thank you for contributing to this lasting memorial.

2,547 Visits

Posts & Photos

  • Gary White
    Gary White:
    December 5, 2022
    My first exposure to Lillian and her tremendously influential work was when I was teaching math at Texas A&M in the early 1990s. I was talking to Janie and Vince Schielack (two other TAMU educators) about teaching one-dimensional motion in first...  more
  • Evette Hackman
    Evette Hackman:
    August 18, 2021
    Lily lived a block or two north of my house. I used to see her daily walking to and from her office at the UW. Occasionally we would walk together briefly or I would give her a ride the last two blocks when the weather was bad. Then I noticed that I...  more
  • MacKenzie Stetzer
    MacKenzie Stetzer:
    July 22, 2020
    I am so grateful to have had Lillian as a research advisor, professional mentor, colleague, and friend. While her immense contributions to the field of PER are invaluable and far reaching, I also recognize, on a more personal note, that she contributed...  more
  • Constantine Christie
    Constantine Christie:
    July 21, 2020
    Beyond inspiring us with her extraordinary brilliance, Professor Lillian McDermott (to me Aunt Lillian), also achieved innumerable successes both professionally and personally. Her good nature and concern for others will be missed. I am lucky to have known her.
  • Andrew Crouse
    Andrew Crouse:
    July 20, 2020
    The world is a little more impoverished without Lillian in it, but she certainly left it better that she found it.

    As a graduate student, I always knew I could find Lillian hard at work at the end of the corridor. Since leaving more than a decade...  more
  • Diane Grayson
    Diane Grayson:
    July 18, 2020 · via iPhone
    October 1983 with Lillian and Mark on the annual hike for new graduate students in the UW Physics Department. Such a nice, relaxed introduction. (Of course it didn’t stay relaxed after that!).
  • Diane Grayson
    Diane Grayson:
    July 18, 2020 · via iPhone
    I first met Lillian in June 1983 in France at the first international workshop on research in physics education. I had just finished a research masters in Plasma physics and a stint as a junior lecturer and had 2 months to spend traveling around Europe...  more
  • Jill Marshall
    Jill Marshall:
    July 18, 2020
    The news of Lillian C. McDermott’s passing was hard to hear. I remember her once asking me, “You know why it’s so important to include the “C.”, right?”; she was always making sure that those of us privileged enough to follow in her footsteps...  more
  • Cedric and Anne Linder
    Cedric and Anne Linder:
    July 17, 2020
    Cedric & Anne Linder, Uppsala, Sweden

    Lillian was such an influential and inspiring leader in the field, and was a supportive friend to both the Uppsala, Sweden and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa PER groups since their inceptions,...  more
  • Paula Heron
    Paula Heron:
    July 16, 2020
    Another of Lillian in Cyprus in 2008. We were there for a GIREP conference.
  • Paula Heron
    Paula Heron:
    July 16, 2020
    Found these photos from Cyprus in 2008. Lillian is with Costas P. Constantinou in the first.
  • Natasha Holmes
    Natasha Holmes:
    July 15, 2020
    When I think of Lillian, I think fierce and mighty! She has been a role model - not just as a small woman in physics - for how to earn, expect, and command respect among physicists and maintain an identity as physicist and education researcher. I will...  more
  • Paul van Kampen
    Paul van Kampen:
    July 15, 2020
    When I decided to get involved with physics education research in the early 2000s, I did my background reading and found all these amazing articles from the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington. I was very lucky to be able to spend a...  more
  • Brian McInnes
    Brian McInnes:
    July 14, 2020
    I was privileged to work for six months in 1994-5 with Lillian and her enthusiastic associates and dedicated graduate students (many of whom went on to extend the reach of Physics Education Research). Lillian was full of verve, she had a brilliant mind...  more
  • Alena Moon
    Alena Moon:
    July 14, 2020
    I was really sad to hear about Lillian's passing. We had just recently stumbled upon a whole cluster of pubs for our light matter project and she was really the only one investigating. I am so thankful for her work!
  • Gay Stewart
    Gay Stewart:
    July 14, 2020
    Lillian created the opportunity for Physics Education Research to be a recognized field in physics. She was also the driving force that brought many of us into that field. She has been one of my most important mentors over these last almost 30 years....  more
  • Jenaro Guisasola
    Jenaro Guisasola:
    July 14, 2020
    From Jenaro Guisasola, Kristina Zuza & Donostia Physics Education Research Group (University of the Basque Country)

    I remember her kindness and availability in our conversation at the GIREP 2008 conference in Cyprus and her invitation to learn...  more
  • GatheringUs Support Team
    GatheringUs Support Team:
    July 13, 2020
    From Costas Constantinou:

    I will always remember Lillian with love, respect and gratitude. She had an enormous influence on science teacher education and discipline-based educational research in Cyprus, through her brief visits and her unwavering...  more
  • GatheringUs Support Team
    GatheringUs Support Team:
    July 13, 2020
    From Suzanne Brahmia:

    The first time I went to a Physics Education Research session at AAPT as a graduate student, I met these two lovely people and my life was never the same. This picture was taken at a conference in 2017, and captures the profound...  more
  • David Hammer
    David Hammer:
    July 13, 2020
    I will remember Lillian as a brilliant, driven visionary. She was one of the first to see possibility of physics education research, and she pressed through barriers of many sorts in her work to make it happen. The impact of her efforts has been truly...  more
  • Brad Ambrose
    Brad Ambrose:
    July 13, 2020
    As one of her former Ph.D. students in the UW Physics Education Group, I am just one of many in the physics education research community who owe so much to her. Indeed, I owe my very career to her. More personally, what immediately comes to my mind are...  more
  • Costas Constantinou
    Costas Constantinou:
    July 13, 2020
    I will always remember Lillian with love, respect and gratitude. She had an enormous influence on science teacher education and discipline-based educational research in Cyprus, through her brief visits and her unwavering support. She was a remarkable...  more
  • Paula Heron
    Paula Heron:
    July 13, 2020
    For a quarter-century Lillian was a mentor, colleague and friend. Words can't express my gratitude for her love, wisdom and support, and for that of her family. She opened many doors for me and I learned so much from her. I'm a better researcher,...  more
  • dedra demaree
    dedra demaree:
    July 13, 2020
    As a young graduate student, first meeting Lillian McDermott I watched her from afar, noticing how powerful her ideas and her voice were, and intimidated by her sharp mind. Over the years I was able to interact with her and found her to be thoughtful...  more