Larry Dale Kirkpatrick (born February 11, 1941) is an American physicist.
Kirkpatrick was born in the state of Washington in 1941.[1] He studied physics at Washington State University, graduating in 1963, and pursued a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1][2] Upon completing his Ph.D in 1968, Kirpatrick accepted an assistant professorship at the University of Washington.[1][2] In 1974, he joined the Montana State University faculty.[1] He was president of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1999.[1] That same year, Kirkpatrick was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society, "for exceptional contributions to physics education as textbook author, editor/columnist for Quantum magazine, and as coach of the US Physics Olympics Team."[3]