About Us

The University of Utah's Department of Physics & Astronomy is committed to pursuing key science questions within an inclusive academic community, to training and diversifying the next generation of researchers, educators, and technology workforce leaders, and inspiring an appreciation for knowledge in students and the wider community.

In pursuit of this mission, the department supports the highest levels of research and teaching among its faculty members. We strive to enable the success of undergraduate and graduate students by creating an academically excellent, efficient, and comfortable learning environment. Our goal is that organizations and individuals in the local and global community will benefit from our research and accomplishments.

	YEAR	EVENT
	1915	The first observatory was built on campus. It was later torn down in the late 1960s to build the current James Fletcher Building.
	1921	Thomas J. Parmley was awarded the first physics degree in the department in 1921. He went on to become a Professor of Physics at the University of Utah and retired in 1997. It is estimated he taught more than 50,000 students.
	1927	The Department of Physics was officially founded, consisting of Professor Orin Tugman (Chair), Professor Thomas Parmley, an undergraduate student as a lab assistant, and one secretary.
	1931 - 1987	J. Irvin Swigart, Professor of Physics, joined the department. The lecture hall in the James Fletcher Building (JFB 101) was named for him, and his portrait hangs in the lecture hall. It is estimated that he taught over 40,000 students.
	Oct. 4, 1957	Russia launched Sputnik and physics as a discipline became more important. Physics Departments across the U.S. began expanding, and jobs in physics became more in demand.
	1959	Jack Keuffel joined the faculty.
	1961	The Engineering Hall changed its name to the South Physics building and the Physics Department moved into the building.
	Autumn 1967	The first classes were held in the newly built James Fletcher Building.
	1970	The College of Science was formed--previously it was part of the College of Letters and Science.
	1974	Don Groom discovered new nova, initiating astronomy research.
	July 2005 - Now	Z. Valy Vardeny appointed Director of the Dixon Laser Institute.
	March 2009	"Department of Physics" changed to the "Department of Physics & Astronomy."
	May 2009	Million-dollar renovation project started on JFB, SP, and on the 4th floor of INSCC. The renovation added five research labs, among others.
	August 2009	Adam Bolton and Inese Ivans joined the faculty as tenure-track assistant professors. Doug Bergman joined the faculty as a tenure-track associate professor. Gordon Thomson joined the faculty as a tenured full professor and was named the first Keuffel Endowed Chair.
	January 2010	Shanti Deemyad, Saveez Saffarian, and Michael Vershinin joined the department as tenure-track assistant professors.
	2011	Pearl Sandick, Anil Seth, and Zheng Zheng joined the department as tenure-track assistant professors.
	August 2012	Dmytro Pesin joined the department as a tenure-track assistant professor.
	Fall 2013	Vikram Deshpande and Sarah Li joined the department as tenure-track assistant professors.
	Fall 2017	Daniel Wik and Gail Zasowski joined the department as a tenure-track assistant professors.
	Summer-Fall 2018	Claudia De Grandi and Yue Zhao joined the department. Dr. De Grandi as an assistant professor (lecturer), and Dr. Zhao as an assistant professor.
	Summer-Fall 2019	Ramón Barthelemy joined the department as an assistant professor, focusing on the U's PER (Physics Education Research) program.
	Spring 2021	Carsten Rott joined the department as professor of physics and astronomy. His research is on understanding the origins of high energy neutrinos. Rott was also appointed to the Jack W. Keuffel Memorial Chair after the retirement of Gordon Thomson. Rott will hold the chair through December 2025.

Department of Physics & Astronomy College of Science

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