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Table of Contents

Institutional History

AbstractDepartment chairsImportant DatesPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as Subject

University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Physics

Photo

Dates

1919 – present

Authorized Form of Name

University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Physics

Additional Forms of Names

UCLA. Department of Physics

University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of California, Los Angeles. Dept. of Physics

Institutional History

Abstract

The Physics Department dates from the opening of the Southern Branch of the University of California in 1919. Classes were taught by John Mead Adams, the only physics professor, William Crowell of the Chemistry Department and George E. F. Sherwood of the Mathematics Department. By 1925, when the first bachelor degrees were awarded, the faculty had grown to six professors. Graduate courses were first offered in 1934 and in 1936 the department was authorized to award the Ph.D. in Physics.

Department chairs

1919-26, John Mead Adams.

1926-31, Samuel J. Barnett.

1932-38, Vern O. Knudsen.

1938-43, Joseph Kaplan.

1944-49, Joseph Ellis.

1949-59, Edgar Lee Kinsey.

1959-63, Leo Delsasso.

1963-68, David Saxon.

1968-71, Harold Ticho.

1971-73, Philip Pincus.

1973-76, Kenneth MacKenzie.

1976-79, George J. Igo.

1979-83, Ernest Abers.

1983-86, Charles Kennel.

1986-unknown, Joseph Rudnick.

unknown-2004, Claudio Pellegrini.

2004-2006, Joseph Rudnick.

2006-2009, Ferdinand Coroniti.

2009-2014, James Rosenzweig.

2014-present, Jean Turner.

Important Dates

1919Department founded by John Mead Adams, William Crowell (chemistry) and George E. F. Sherwood (mathematics), Berkeley (Calif.).

1923First upper division lecture courses were added.

1924First upper division laboratories were added.

1925First bachelor's degrees were awarded.

1933Graduate work began.

1934Regular graduate classes leading to the master's degree were offered.

1940First Ph.D. degree in physics was awarded.

1948 – 1950James Fletcher was on faculty.

1948 – 1987Isadore Rudnick was on faculty.

1960 – 1963Richard Brewer was on faculty.

1963Second building was completed, known as Knudsen Hall, and the original building was renamed Kinsey Hall.

1965 – 1985Theodore Holstein was on faculty.

1967 – 1996Charles Kennel was on faculty.

1969 – 1994Francis Chen was on faculty.

1972 – 1983Paul Chaikin was on faculty.

1972 – 1994Julian Schwinger was on faculty.

1973 – 2001John Dawson was on faculty.

1975 – 1978James Drake was on faculty.

1985 – 1986John Wheatley was on faculty.

1989 – 2004Steven Kivelson was on faculty.

1991 – 1993Marvin "Murph" Goldberger was on faculty.

2000 – presentC. Kumar N. Patel has been on faculty.

Places

Headquarters

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Subjects

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Abers, Ernest S. (Ernest Stephen), 1936-

Department chair.

Adams, John Mead, 1882-

Co-founder of department and first department professor and chair.

Barnett, S. J. (Samuel Jackson), 1873-1956

Department chair.

Brewer, Richard G.

Assistant Professor.

Chaikin, Paul M.

Assistant Professor of Physics, Associate Professor of Physics, and Professor of Physics.

Chen, Francis F., 1929-

Professor of Physics.

Coroniti, Ferdinand V.

Department chair.

Crowell, William Ransom, 1879-

Co-founder of department.

Dawson, J. M. (John Myrick), 1930-

Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy.

Delsasso, Leo

Department chair.

Drake, James (James F.)

Obtained BS, MS, PhD in 1975 (Physics), Adjunct Assistant Professor, and Assistant Research Physicist.

Ellis, Joseph W.

Department chair.

Fletcher, James Chipman, 1919-1991

Instructor.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Professor of Physics.

Hershkowitz, N. (Noah), 1941-

Visiting Professor.

Holstein, Theodore David, 1915-1985

Professor of Physics.

Igo, George J., 1925-

Department chair.

Kaplan, Joseph A., 1902-1991

Department chair.

Kennel, Charles F., 1939-

Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; and Chair, Department of Physics.

Kinsey, Edgar Lee

Department chair.

Kirkpatrick, Paul

Instructor, summer sessions.

Kivelson, Steven

Professor of Physics.

Knudsen, Vern Oliver, 1893-1974

Department chair.

MacKenzie, Kenneth Ross

Department chair.

Patel, C. Kumar N.

Professor of Physics.

Pincus, P. A.

Department chair.

Rosenzweig, J. (Jamie)

Department chair.

Rudnick, Isadore, 1917-

BA (1938) and PhD (1944); Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics; and Professor of Physics.

Rudnick, Joseph Alan, 1944-

Department chair.

Saxon, David S.

Department chair.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Visiting Professor; Professor of Physics; and University Professor.

Sherwood, G. E. F. (George Eulas Foster), 1883-

Co-founder of department.

Ticho, Harold Klein, 1921-

Department chair.

Turner, J. L. (Jean Lewin)

Department chair.

Wheatley, John Charles

Professor of Physics and President's Chair.

Associates & Members

Abell, George O. (George Ogden), 1927-1983

Aller, Lawrence H. (Lawrence Hugh), 1913-2003

Arakawa, Akio

Atac, Muzaffer, 1933-2010

Benson, Arthur J.

Casperson, Lee W. (Lee Wendel), 1944-

Charney, Jule G.

Diamond, R. M.

Obtained BS.

Dodd, Laurence Ellsworth, 1886-

Doell, Richard Rayman

Everhart, Thomas E.

Obtained MSc.

Farquhar, Robert W. (Robert Willard)

Gales, R. S.

Hakkarinen, C.

Hammett, Louis P. (Louis Plack), 1894-1987

Hayes, D. S. (Donald S.)

Hinzpeter, Hans

Kasahara, Akira

Kivelson, M. G. (Margaret Galland), 1928-

Knopoff, Leon, 1925-

Kolin, Alexander

Langenberg, D. N., 1932-

Received MS.

Leonard, Robert W. (Robert Walton)

Libby, Willard F.

MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002

Naugle, John E.

Reaves, Gibson, 1923-2005

Sakurai, J. J. (Jun John), 1933-1982

Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999

Obtained AB (1934).

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Siegman, A. E.

Vasilevskis, Stanislaus, 1907-1988

Wilhelms, Don E.

Winstein, Bruce

Received BA (1965).

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

University of California, Los Angeles

White Mountain Research Station (University of California, Los Angeles)

A unit of the University of California Natural Reserve System, and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Collaborators

American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics

Worked together on the Study of Multi-institutional Collaborations.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Program for dedication of E. Lee Kinsey and Vern O. Knudsen Hall, 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

UCLA Department of Physics administrative files of the department chairs, 1923-1987.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

UCLA Department of Physics records, 1919-1992.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

University of California, Los Angeles Physics Department publications, 1950-1989.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Subject

Alexander Kolin papers, 1929-1990.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Arthur J. Benson papers, 1904-1994 (bulk 1935-1994).

Hillman Library. Archives of Scientific Philosophy in the Twentieth Century

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA

Gibson Reaves astronomy notebooks, 1943-1949.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Isadore Rudnick papers, circa 1945-1988.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

J. J. Sakurai papers, 1950-1982.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

John M. Dawson papers, circa 1956-1995.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Joseph Kaplan papers, circa 1940-1978.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Laurence Ellsworth Dodd papers, 1919-1975.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Lee W. Casperson response to Laser History Project Survey, 1983.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Muzaffer Atac papers, 1961-2008.

History and Archives Project Office, MS-109

Fermilab

PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA

Oral history interview with Akio Arakawa, 1997 July 17 and 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Akira Kasahara, 1998 November 2 and 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Anthony Edward Siegman, 1984 January 23 and 1986 August 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Charles "Chuck" Hakkarinen, 2013 February 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Don E. Wilhelms, 1987 June 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Donald S. Hayes, 1977 November 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George Ogden Abell, 1977 November 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gordon J. MacDonald, 1986 April 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Hans Hinzpeter, 1995 Spring.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Isadore Rudnick, 1990 July 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John E. Naugle, 1980 August 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Jule G. Charney, 1980 August 25, 26, 27 and 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lawrence H. Aller, 1979 August 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leon Knopoff, 1990 April 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Louis Plack Hammett, 1978 May 1 and 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Margaret G. Kivelson, 1988-1992. But you don't look like a physicist: oral history transcript, 1988-1992 Margaret G. Kivelson interviewed by Neil D. Hathaway and Raymond J. Walker.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Oral history interview with Richard Doell, 1978 April 17, 26, and 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Farquhar, 2007 November 15, 29, 2008 February 27 and July 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert S. Gales, 2000 March 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Stanislaus Vasilevskis, 1977 July 13 and 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vern Oliver Knudsen, 1964 May 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vern Oliver Knudsen, 1966 December 20 to 1969 June 3.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Oral history interview with Willard F. Libby, 1978.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Oral history interview with Willard Frank Libby, 1979 April 12 and 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: BNL-E-791: Study of Very Rare K-Long Decays, 1990-1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: CERN-UA-001: A 4-Pi Solid Angle Detector For the SPS Used as a Proton-Antiproton Collider at a C.M. Energy of 630 GeV, 1990-1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: SLAC-PEP-004-009: The Time Projection Chamber and 2-Gamma Detector at PEP, 1990-1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. Space Science: International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE), 1992-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert Walton Leonard papers, 1928-1967 (bulk 1955-1964).

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Theodore D. Holstein papers, 1940-1990 (bulk 1965-1986).

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Berkeley

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

University of California President : David S. Saxon : oral history transcript / interviewed by James V. Mink and Dale E. Treleven ; completed under the auspices of the Oral History Program, University of California, Los Angeles, 1994.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

White Mountain Research Station administrative files, 1949-1996.

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA