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Table of Contents

Institutional History

AbstractDepartment chairsImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitations

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as Subject

University of California, Santa Barbara. Department of Physics

Photo

Dates

1944 – present

Authorized Form of Name

University of California, Santa Barbara. Department of Physics

Additional Forms of Names

University of California, Santa Barbara. Dept. of Physics

University of California, Santa Barbara. Physics Department

Institutional History

Abstract

Since its creation in 1944, the University of California, Santa Barbara's Physics Department has grown quickly. Though it is a relatively small department, in 2010 it was ranked among the top five graduate programs in the nation. The department's faculty has hosted multiple Nobel Prize winners, over 15 memberships of the National Academies and other award winners. The Physics Department is located in Broida Hall, named for distinguished early department member Herbert P. Broida. Faculty conduct and supervise research in astrophysics, cosmology, biophysics, condensed matter physics, gravitation, and particle physics.

Department chairs

2000-05, S. James Allen.

2005-08, Mark Srednicki.

2010-13, Omer Blaes.

2014-present, Philip Pincus.

Important Dates

1944Physics Department was established, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

1963 – 1978Herbert Broida was on faculty and as one of the early faculty members helped grow the department.

1966 – presentJames Hartle has been on faculty.

1968 – presentStanton Peale has been on faculty.

1969 – presentDouglas Scalapino has been on faculty.

1979Institute for Theoretical Physics was founded and became a source of strength for the department.

1979 – 1980Gary Horowitz was on faculty.

1979 – presentWalter Kohn has been on faculty.

1979 – presentGuenter Ahlers has been on faculty.

1980 – 1990Frank Wilczek was on faculty.

1980 – 1997J. Robert Schrieffer was on faculty.

1981 – 1989Steven Kivelson was on faculty.

1981 – 1999Michael Witherell was on faculty.

1982 – presentJames Langer has been on faculty.

1982 – presentAlan Heeger has been on faculty.

1983 – presentGary Horowitz has been on faculty.

1986 – 1997Andrew Strominger was on faculty.

1991 – 1994Christopher Stubbs was on faculty.

1991 – presentDavid Awschalom has been on faculty.

1992 – presentJoseph Polchinski has been on faculty.

2002 – presentDavid Gross has been on faculty.

Places

Headquarters

Santa Barbara (Calif.)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Biophysics.

Condensed matter.

Cosmology.

Gravity.

Particles (Nuclear physics).

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Citations

Historical information from University of California, Santa Barbara's Department of Physics website.

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Ahlers, G. (Günter)

Professor of Physics.

Allen, S. James

Department chair.

Awschalom, D. (David)

Professor of Physics.

Blaes, Omer, 1961-

Department chair.

Broida, Herbert P.

Held various positions and as an early faculty member was instrumental in the growth of the department.

Gross, David J. (David Jonathan)

Frederick W. Gluck Chair Professor, Theoretical Physics.

Hartle, J. B. (James B.)

Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics.

Heeger, Alan J.

Professor of Physics.

Horowitz, Gary T., 1955-

Postdoctoral Fellow; Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; and Professor of Physics.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics Emeritus and Research Professor.

Langer, James S.

Professor of Physics and Professor Emeritus of Physics.

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

Professor of Physics.

Maple, M. Brian, 1939-

Instructor in Theoretical Physics.

Peale, Stanton Jerrold

Assistant Professor to Professor; Professor Emeritus and Research Professor.

Pincus, P. A.

Department chair.

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Professor of Physics.

Rohrer, Heinrich, 1933-2013

Visiting Professor of Physics.

Scalapino, Douglas J.

Visiting Professor; Professor of Physics; and Research Professor of Physics.

Schrieffer, J. R. (John Robert), 1931-

Professor and Chancellor Professor.

Srednicki, Mark Allen

Department chair.

Strominger, Andrew Eben

Professor of Physics.

Stubbs, Christopher

Assistant to Associate Professor of Physics.

Wilczek, Frank

Professor of Physics and Chancellor Robert Huttenback Professor of Physics.

Witherell, Michael S., 1949-

Assistant Professor; Associate Professor; Professor of Physics; and University of California Presidential Chair.

PhD Students

Kirtley, John R.

Received BA and PhD (Physics) in 1976.

Associates & Members

Hansma, Paul K., 1946-

Kivelson, Steven

Fellow.

Tilton, George R.

Institutions

Institutional Hierarchy

University of California, Santa Barbara

Collaborators

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

The Institute for Theoretical Physics was renamed in 2002 when it joined the Kavli Institutes, but remains close partners with the department as all permanent members of the institute are also faculty of the physics department.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Founded in 1979 separate from the physics department, the institute became a source of strength for the physics department.

Associates

American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics

Department of physics participated in AIP's study of multi-institutional collaborations.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Reminiscences of Los Alamos [sound recording] : a lecture series at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1975.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Reminiscences of wartime Los Alamos [sound recording], 1975.

Library. Dept. of Special Collections

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

The effectiveness of scientific advice to government [sound recording] : a lecture series at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1976.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

University of California, Santa Barbara Department of Physics records, circa 1954-1990.

Library. Dept. of Special Collections

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Subject

George R. Tilton response to History of Geophysics Survey, 1999.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Michael Witherell papers, 1999-2005.

Milton G. White History of Accelerators Room (WH-3SE) and Archives (WH-16NE)

Fermilab

PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA

Oral history interview with Alan J. Heeger, 2006 March 13 and 16.

The Beckman Center for History of Chemistry

Chemical Heritage Foundation

315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA

Oral history interview with Paul K. Hansma, 2006 May 2 and August 7.

The Beckman Center for History of Chemistry

Chemical Heritage Foundation

315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA

Oral history interviews. Geophysics and Oceanography: World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), 1992-1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Probes: CESR-CLEO: The CLEO Experiment at CESR, 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