Professor Gary Gladding, a high energy experimentalist, joined the Department of Physics at Illinois as a research associate after receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1971. He became assistant professor in 1973 and has, since 1985, been a full professor. He has done experiments at CERN, Fermilab, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, and the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. He served as Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs for thirteen years. He was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society for his contributions to the improvement of large enrollment introductory physics courses. Since 1996, Professor Gladding has led the faculty group responsible for the success of the massive curriculum revision that has transformed the introductory physics curriculum here at Illinois. This effort has involved more than 50 faculty and improved physics instruction for more than 25,000 science and engineering undergraduate students. He has shifted his research focus over the last ten years to physics education research (PER) and currently leads the PER group. He is also heavily involved in preparing at-risk students for success in physics coursework through the development of Physics 100. Professor Gladding was also a key player in the creation and development of i>clicker™.