Title: Physics Department Subject File, 1929-2000

Series Number: 11/10/1

Acquired: 11/10/2012.

Volume: 32.0 cubic feet

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Courses in chemical physics and higher physics were listed in the 1868-69 catalogue.¹In 1870-71, the Board of Trustees listed Stillman W. Robinson as professor of Physics, and, in 1871-72, they listed Physics and Astronomy as a "department of study."²Course catalogs for 1876-77 through 1890-91 refer to a "course in physics" as part of the curriculum of the four schools in the College of Engineering.³ In 1886, the Physics course was divided, offering a general course, and one for engineering.⁴Until 1889-90, when Samuel W. Stratton assumed teaching responsibilities in Physics, the courses were usually taught by the heads of the departments of Mechanical and Mining Engineering.⁵ Upon Stratton's formal appointment as Assistant Professor of Physics, the scope of instruction in Physics was expanded and Physics emerged as separate department in 1890-91.⁶

Graduate work in Physics leading to the Master's and Ph.D. were offered through the Graduate College after its establishment in 1907. The first Ph.Ds. in Physics were awarded in 1910, and an undergraduate program leading to the Bachelor's of Science in Engineering was approved in 1917 and the first B.S. was awarded in 1923.⁷The aims of the department are to offer "a curriculum in engineering physics to give . . . training in fundamental physics and mathematics." The department has "extensive facilities for instruction and investigation in physics."⁸Physics is available as a field of concentration and as a major leading to the Bachelor's of Science degree within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.⁹

1. Catalogues and Circulars, 1868-69, pp. 26-27.

2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 4th Report, 1870-71, p. 45; 5th Report, p. 56.

3. Catalogues & Circulars, 1876-77 to 1890-91.

4. Board of Trustees Transactions, 13th Report, 1884-86, p. 159.

5. Board of Trustees Transactions, 15th Report, 1888-90, December 10, 1889, p. 114.

6. Board of Trustees Transactions, 15th Report, 1888-90, June 10, 1890, pp. 148-49, 160.

7. Board of Trustees Transactions, 24th Report, 1906-08, June 10, 1907, p. 133. Board of Trustees Transactions, 1916-18, June 25, 1917, pp. 392-93.

8. Undergraduate Study Catalog, 1969-70, p. 266.

9. Undergraduate Programs, 1987-90, p. 274, 287-88.

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Description: Physics Department Subject File includes correspondence with administrators, deans, department heads, and faculty; reports, memoranda, and publications of the department of Physics related to academic policy, admissions, affirmative action, American Institute of Physics, appointments and promotion, Argonne National Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, betatron, budgets, building projects, cataracts, College of Engineering, colloquia and seminars, Control Systems Laboratory, Coordinated Science Laboratory, courses and curricula, department, school, and campus committees, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Graduate College, High Energy Physics Group, Materials Research Laboratory, McMillan Award, Midwestern Universities Research Association, National Science Foundation, nonacademic personnel, Nuclear Physics Laboratory, patents, Physics Research Laboratory, picnics, PLATO, professional societies and organizations, research grants, salaries, safety, space allocation, sabbaticals, teaching evaluation, Undergraduate Studies Committee, U. S. Office of Naval Research, and University Research Board. Principal correspondents include Gail Adams, Gerald Almy, Ansel Anderson, Peter Axel, Robert Becker, George Beggs, Gilberto Bernardini, David Campbell, D. C. Drucker, W. L. Everitt, Donald Kerst, P. Gerald Kruger, F. Wheeler Loomis, Bess Matteson, Clark Robinson, Harry Edward Seidel, Frederick Seitz, and Ralph O. Simmons.

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