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Institutional History
AbstractDepartment chairsImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitationsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectUniversity of Michigan. Department of Physics
Dates
1843 – present
Authorized Form of Name
University of Michigan. Department of Physics
Additional Forms of Names
University of Michigan. Dept. of Physics
Institutional History
Abstract
First course in "Natural Philosophy" offered in 1843; first professor of physics and civil engineering appointed in 1854; first full professor of physics named in 1860. Additional instructors, assistant professors and junior professors were added between 1890 and 1900. Early courses in infrared spectroscopy were followed by discoveries leading to microwave spectroscopy. A theoretical physics program and applied physics program were offered in the 1920s; nuclear physics program added in the 1930s. After World War II the department developed an interest in high energy physics, notably with Donald Glaser's Nobel Prize-winning Bubble Chamber in the 1950s.
Department chairs
1911-15, Karl E. Guthe.
1915-41, Harrison M. Randall.
1941-55, Ernest F. Barker.
1955-65, David Dennison.
1965-72, H. Richard Crane.
1972-77, Daniel Sinclair.
1977-82, Richard H. Sands.
1982-87, Lawrence W. Jones.
1987-92, Homer A. Neal.
1992-94, John F. Ward (Interim Chair).
1994-2004, Citrad Uher.
2004-2009, Myron Campbell.
2009-2018, Bradford Orr.
2019-present, David Gerdes.
Important Dates
1843First course entitled "Natural Philosophy" was taught, Ann Arbor (Mich.).
1854Alexander Winchell appointed first Professor of Physics and Civil Engineering.
1860James Craig Watson hired as first full Professor of Physics.
1888Physics Building was built, Ann Arbor (Mich.).
1901 – 1969Harrison Randall was on faculty.
1910 – 1911Richard Tolman was on faculty.
1911Harrison M. Randall's work in infrared spectroscopy helped bring prominence to the department.
1923Summer Symposia in Physics began.
1923 – 1924East Physics Building (now Randall Laboratory) was built for advanced research.
1924 – 1971Otto Laporte was on faculty.
1927 – 1935George Uhlenbeck was on faculty.
1927 – 1946Samuel Goudsmit was on faculty.
1927 – 1976David Dennison was on faculty.
1928Summer Symposia changed its focus to Theoretical Physics and broadened its scope.
1932 – 1933Robert Bacher was on faculty.
1935 – 2007H. Richard Crane was on faculty.
1936Department built a 36-inch cyclotron with the Medical School.
1939Cyclotron was converted to 42 inches.
1939 – 1960George Uhlenbeck was on faculty.
1948 – 1950William Nierenberg was on faculty.
1949 – 1959Donald Glaser was on faculty.
1951 – 1969Kenneth Case was on faculty.
1952 – 1953Gert Ehrlich was on faculty.
1953 – 1957Joaquin Luttinger was on faculty.
1955 – 1963Martin Perl was on faculty.
1956 – 1957G. Raymond Satchler was on faculty.
1957 – 1960George Trilling was on faculty.
1962Cyclotron was replaced with an 83-inch cyclotron.
1962 – 1963David Wilkinson was on faculty.
1962 – 1963Physics-Astronomy Building (now Dennison Building) was built to house the Physics-Astronomy Library, classrooms, and laboratories.
1977 – 1984Carl Wieman was on faculty.
1990 – 2006Philip Bucksbaum was on faculty.
1996 – 1999Margaret Murnane was on faculty.
Places
Headquarters
Subjects
Physics -- Study and teaching.
Citations
Historical information from the finding aid of the University of Michigan Department of Physics records, Bentley Historical Library (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-87145).
Relationships
People
Employees & Officers
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004
Received BS (1926), PhD (1930), and Lloyd Fellow.
Barker, Ernest F. (Ernest Franklin), 1886-1970
Department Chair.
Professor Physics; Otto Laporte Collegiate Professor of Physics; and Peter Franken Distinguished University Professor of Physics.
Campbell, M. (Myron K.)
Department Chair.
Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics.
Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007
Instructor and Research Physicist; Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics; Director, Proximity Fuse Project Satellite; Chair, Department of Physics; Professor of Physics; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.
Dennison, David M. (David Mathias), 1900-1976
Received PhD in Physics (1924). Instructor; Assistant Professor; Associate Professor; Professor; Department Chair; Harrison M. Randall University Professor; and Professor Emeritus.
Research Associate in Physics.
Gerdes, David W.
Department Chair.
Instructor to Associate Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics.
Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978
Associate Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics.
Guthe, Karl Eugen
First Department Chair.
Jones, Lawrence W. (Lawrence William)
Department Chair.
Instructor in Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; and Professor of Physics.
Associate Professor of Physics.
Founding Director, Center for Ultrafast Optical Science and A. D. Moore Distinguished University Professor Emeritus.
Associate Professor of Physics.
Neal, Homer A.
Department Chair.
Nierenberg, William Aaron, 1919-2000
Assistant Professor of Physics.
Orr, Bradford G.
Department Chair.
Visiting Professor.
Instructor to Associate Professor.
Visiting Professor.
Randall, Harrison M. (Harrison McAllister), 1870-
Received PhB (1893), AM (1894), and PhD (1902). Instructor in Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Director, Physics Laboratory; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.
Sands, Richard H.
Department Chair.
Satchler, G. R. (George Raymond)
Research Associate.
Sinclair, Daniel
Department Chair.
Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics.
Uher, Ctirad
Department Chair.
Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988
Instructor to Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; and Henry S. Carhart Professor of Physics.
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Visiting Professor.
John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics, emeritus.
Watson, James Craig
First full Professor of Physics.
Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
Visiting Professor.
Assistant Research Scientist in Physics and Assistant Professor of Physics.
Received PhD (1962) and Lecturer in Physics.
Winchell, Alexander, 1824-1891
First Professor of Physics and Civil Engineering.
Visiting Professor.
PhD Students
Foley, Henry Michael, 1917-1982
Received BS, MA and PhD in Physics (1942).
Tape, Gerald Frederick, 1915-2005
Received MS (1936) and PhD (1940).
Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-
Received BS (1959) and PhD (1962).
Associates & Members
Adel, Arthur, 1908-1994
Baldwin, Ralph Belknap, 1912-
Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983
Transferred after one year of study.
Bass, Michael, 1939-
Briggs, Lyman J. (Lyman James), 1874-1963
Received MS (1895).
Carhart, Henry S. (Henry Smith), 1844-1920
Carpenter, John M. (John Marland), 1935-
Received BS in Physics (1971).
Chamberlain, Joseph W. (Joseph Wyan), 1928-2004
Received AM in Physics (1949).
Colby, Walter F. (Walter Francis), 1880-
Ewald, Paul Peter, 1888-1985
Fowler, Richard Gildart
Fox, Gerald Willis, 1900-1974
Gofman, John W.
Gomberg, H. J. (Henry Jacob)
Goodman, Ralph R.
Received MS.
Hanau, Richard, 1917-
Hirsh, Ira J.
Hobart, James
Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995
Obtained PhD in Physics (1944).
Klein, Oskar
Koehler, James S. (James Stark), 1914-2006
Manley, John Henry, 1907-
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Parkinson, W. C. (William Charles), 1918-
Plyler, Earle Keith, 1897-1976
Received BS (1969).
Rich, Arthur, 1937-1990
Sawyer, Ralph A. (Ralph Alanson), 1895-1978
Sleator, William Warner
Smith, Arthur W.
Terhune, R. W. (Robert William)
Terwilliger, Kent M. (Kent Melville), 1924-1989
Van der Velde, John Christian
Wead, Charles Kasson
Webster, David Locke, 1888-1976
Williams, Neil H. (Neil Hooker)
Received BS (1968).
Wu, Ta-you
Zorn, Jens C.
Received BS (1959).
Institutions
Institutional Hierarchy
University of Michigan
Associates
American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics
Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
A directory of research in the Physics Department of the University of Michigan, 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Catalogs listing courses in physics and staff of the University of Michigan Department of Physics, 1925-1941.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Copies of physics and chemistry examinations, 1896-1901.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars records, 1933-1945.
Rare Books and Manuscripts Division
New York Public Library
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018, USA
Pages from catalogs listing faculty of physics department, 1910-1940.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
University of Michigan Department of Physics publications, 1915-ongoing.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
University of Michigan Department of Physics records, 1873-2002 (bulk 1954-1991).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Subject
Anna Newton student notebook, 1893.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Arthur Adel response to History of Modern Astrophysics Survey, 1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Arthur Rich papers, 1962-1989.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Arthur Whitmore Smith papers, 1893-1954 (bulk 1930-1954).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Charles Kasson Wead papers, 1840-1924.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
David M. Dennison papers, circa 1927-1976.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
George Uhlenbeck papers, 1918-1982 (bulk 1925-1970).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Gerald Willis Fox the history of recent physics in the United States, 1965.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Harrison M. Randall papers, 1897-1956.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Harry E. Moses student notebooks, 1943-1947.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Henry Jacob Gomberg papers, 1941-1995.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Henry S. Carhart papers, circa 1875-circa 1920.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Homer Neal papers.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Horace Richard Crane papers, 1897-2000 (bulk 1933-1995).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Jack C. van der Velde papers, 1979-1994 (bulk 1985-1990).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Jens C. Zorn papers, 1956-1995.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Kent Terwilliger papers, 1956-1989.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Lawrence W. Jones papers, 1953-2001 (bulk 1984-1989).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Nathan Ginsburg papers, 1931-1978.
Archives and Records Management
Syracuse University
E. S. Bird Library, Syracuse, NY 13244-2010, USA
Neil H. Williams student notebook, circa 1908.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Notes used by Hanau in teaching elementary physics laboratory at University of Michigan, 1940s.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
On the history of physics at Michigan: Nuclear physics, 1986.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Arthur Adel, 1987 August 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Locke Webster, 1964 May 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Mathias Dennison, 1964 January 27, 28 and 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Rittenhouse Inglis, 1977 May 9 and 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Todd Wilkinson, 1984 September 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Donald A. Glaser, 2003 November 18 - 2 March 2004.
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA
Oral history interview with Earle Plyler, 1964 April 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Felix Bloch, 1968 August 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1981 January 26, 27, March 24 and 1982 March 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Harrison M. Randall, 1964 February 19, 20 and 1965 June 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ira Hirsh, 1994 June 9.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with J. H. Van Vleck, 1963 October 2 and 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with J. H. Van Vleck, 1966 February 28 and 1973 January 19.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with James Hobart, 1984 January 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with James Stark Koehler, 1981 March 6.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Henry Manley, 1976 July 9 and 11.
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA
Oral history interview with John M. Carpenter, 2008 December 17, 2010 May 3 and November 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John W. Gofman, 1980 24 July to 8 August.
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA
Oral history interview with Michael Bass, 1985 May 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Oskar Benjamin Klein, 1962 September 25 to 16 July 1963.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Paul Peter Ewald, 1959 April 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Paul Peter Ewald, 1968 May 17 and 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ralph Alanson Sawyer, 1967 March 16 and 1970 September 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ralph R. Goodman, 2007 September 19.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1966 June 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Terhune, 1978 October 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Samuel Abraham Goudsmit, 1963 December 5 and 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Samuel Goudsmit, 1976 May 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ta-You Wu, 1977 February 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William Aaron Nierenberg, 1986 February 6 and June 26, 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Administrators, 1990-1991.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oskar Klein From my life of physics, 1968.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Otto Laporte papers, 1926-1970.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Phillip M. Morse autobiographical data, circa 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Physics: electricity, magnetism and light [lecture notes], 1926.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Professor Henry Levinstein of Syracuse University and his impact on infrared detectors in the U. S., 2016.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Ralph A. Sawyer papers, 1918-1978.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Ralph Belknap Baldwin Highlighted story of a long and unusual life, 1998.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Richard G. Fowler papers, 1946-1969.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Richard Hanau lecture notes, 1946-1947.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Robert F. Bacher papers, 1924-1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1921-1979.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Scott Turner lecture notes, 1900-1902 and 1904.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
The Michigan Symposium on Theoretical Physics, circa 1961.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
The University of Michigan Department of Physics, 1843-1944, 1944.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Walter F. Colby papers, 1924-1970.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Walter G. Wallace student notebook, 1890-1891.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
William Charles Parkinson papers, 1950-1990.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
William Warner Sleator papers, circa 1931-circa 1956.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Published Resources
Author
Handbook of military infrared technology. Editor: William L. Wolfe.