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WELCOME to the Department of Physics. The Department is committed to education and research in physics, the study of the fundamental universal laws that govern the behavior of matter and energy, and the exploration of the consequences and applications of those laws... continued
Latest News:
 Angela Des Jardins, formerly the Deputy Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, has been appointed as MSGC's Interim Director, following the passing of Bill Hiscock, Professor of Physics and former Director of MSGC. Glenda Winslow will continue to assist with MSGC management as Program Coordinator. A formal search to appoint a permanent director for MSGC will take place later this year. The MSGC staff were excited to receive the news that MSGC was the only Space Grant Consortium (of 52) to be ranked in the top tier in each of the three evaluation categories as a result of the recent Space Grant 20 year review. Angela and Glenda will use this feedback in carrying out the MSGC programs that have been so successful in the past. Please join me in congratulating Angela in her new role.
Dick Smith (06/4/09)
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Congratulations and welcome back to MSU-Bozeman to newly named Professor Emeritus of Physics: Dr. Gerald F. Wheeler. Dr. Wheeler retired in September, 2008, from the National Science Teachers Association after serving as Executive Director for 13 years, and returned to Bozeman. Gerry joined the faculty at Montana State University as Assoc. Prof. of Physics in 1981, and continued as Prof.
of Physics from 1988 until 1995 when he became Executive Director at NSTA. During his years at MSU-Bozeman Dr. Wheeler also served as Director of the Science/Math Resource Center and continued his role as consultant for Children's TV Workshop, and a variety of national advisory committees for improving science education and science outreach to the public.
Dick Smith (06/4/09)
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Congratulations to the following winners of fellowships and scholarships from NASA EPSCoR and the Montana Space Grant Consortium for the 2009-10 academic year:-
Steven Price - Graduate Research Fellowship from NASA EPSCoR.
Joseph Plowman - Graduate Fellowship from Montana Space Grant Consortium.
Timothy Brox - Undergraduate Physics Scholarship from Montana Space Grant Consortium.
These honors reflect the students' past achievements as well as present and future commitment to the aerospace sciences and engineering. They join an elite group of approximately 1900 Space Grant Scholars and Fellows nationwide.
Dick Smith (05/21/09)
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Please join me in congratulating David McKenzie on his promotion to the rank of Associate Research Professor, effective July 1, 2009.
In his promotion reviews, David is noted for the cutting-edge nature and international caliber of his research, as well as a significant publication record and outstanding grant activity.
Thank you, David, for your contributions in carrying forward the solar "torch" for the department.
Dick Smith (05/19/09)
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Congratulations to all of our graduating students
Ph.D (5). Jack Dostal (Jeff Adams, adv); Tyson Littenberg (Neil Cornish, adv), Trae Winter (Piet Martens, adv), Sytil Murphy (John Carlsten, adv), Ijaz Zafarullah (Randy Babbitt, adv)
M.S. (10) Nick Childs, Eric Curtis, Muhammedin Deliorman, Greg Gabrielson, Adam Kobelski, Michael Lerch, Jacob Plovanic, Lucas Tarr, Scott Wagemann (Randy Babbitt, adv), Jeremy Wolf (Jeff Adams, adv)
B.S. (19) Aaron Browning, Patrick Burr, Eric Gustafson, Daniel Herber, Kasey Lund, Justin Moore, Megan Stoebe, Ian Vrable
Graduating with Honors (3.25 GPA or higher) Eric Barth, Orion Bellorado, Ryan Callahan, David Coll-Segarra, Nathan Haydon, Conrad Martin
Graduating with Highest Honors (3.75 GPA or higher) Set Chart, Pat Kujawa, Nathan Martin, Bryan Ostdiek, Geoffrey Wicks
2009 AJM Johnson Outstanding Senior Awards: Pat Kujawa, Bryan Ostdiek
Dick Smith (05/08/09) |
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We announce with great sadness the news that Bill Hiscock passed away in the hospital on Tuesday evening.  Bill had been ill for some time, and it was this illness that forced him to step down as Department Head last summer. Bill was an outstanding faculty member in this department, serving as Head of the Department from 2003 to 2008, and at the same time as Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, and the NASA EPSCoR program. Before his illness, Bill was known for his animated lectures on cosmology, including his own special course for entering freshman Physics majors, "From Quarks to the Cosmos". Bill also led a very active research group investigating topics in the quantum theory of gravity, space-based gravitational wave detection, relativistic fluid dynamics, and the application of elementary particle physics to relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. Bill was a member of NASA's Mission Definition Team for LISA, a space based laser interferometer gravitational wave detector. Bill continued to be active as the MSGC Director during the past year, working from home, submitting proposals, and providing advice for the new Head of the Department. As a member of the MSGC, Bill had the rather unique opportunity to serve as a member of the Obama Transition Team this past winter. We all have benefited from Bill's strong leadership in promoting teaching and research in the department, and his thoughtful perspective on matters important to the future of our department. Contributions to the family in Bill's name will go towards scholarships to students working on NASA-related research.
For details see http://spacegrant.org/hiscock.
Please also refer to the MSU News Service webpage for more information.
Link to Bill's homepage
Link to David McKenzie's slide show memorial to Bill
Dick Smith (04/23/09)
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 Congratulations to David McKenzie for being selected as the 2009 winner of the College of Letters and Science Award for Meritorious Research and Creativity. This award acknowledges David's work in solar coronal and flare physics, and his work as chief observer of the X-Ray telescopes of both the Yohkoh and Hinode spacecrafts. David is acknowledged by his colleagues as having a keen grasp of where the field is going, and what the important problems are. He is recognized not only as a researcher with numerous publications and over $3 M in grant funding, but also as a mentor of students at all levels of education, from high school to postdoctoral assistants. His work with students and public outreach is exceptional, and highlights the important contribution Research Faculty are making to the missions of CLS and MSU.
Congratulations, David!
Dick Smith (04/13/09)
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