Professor Joe Giacalone was the recipient of the 12th Annual Professor Leon and Pauline Blitzer Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Physics and Related Sciences. Jacob Mallott and Eric Blitzer presented Professor Giacalone with the award at a special afternoon program held on March 2, 2017. Professor Giacalone's award lecture was titled Solar Storms, Space Radiation and their Effects on Earth and Space Travel.  A reception followed in the Kuiper Space Sciences atrium.

Joe has taught courses at all levels including introductory courses in planetary sciences, advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in the physics of the solar system, and an advanced graduate course on the physics of the Sun. His research focus is on understanding the origin and physical processes involved in creating high-energy charged particles near the Sun and how they move throughout the solar system. Joe earned a B.A. in Mathematics (1985) and B.S. in Physics (1986) from Ft. Lewis College; he completed a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Kansas in 1991. Joe began his career at LPL in 1993 as a post-doctoral research associate and joined the tenure-track faculty in 2004. He was a winner of a NASA Early Career award in 2005. He has been directly involved with number of NASA missions, including Ulysses, ACE, and Voyager, and is currently a Co-Investigator for the upcoming NASA mission Solar Probe Plus, launching next year, which will explore the outer atmosphere of the Sun. 

The Blitzer Award is funded through the Blitzer Teaching Award Fund, and commemorates Professor Leon Blitzer and his wife, Pauline Meyer Blitzer.