Department of Physics, Harvard University
founded 1884
The Department of Physics at Harvard University was founded in 1884, with the opening of a new physics laboratory, but the study of physics at Harvard predates this. Natural philosophy and physics-related studies were part of the first curriculum at Harvard when it opened in 1636.
The study of physics at Harvard, of course, predates this. Natural philosophy and physics-related studies were part of the first curriculum at Harvard when it opened in 1636. Here are some institutional dates:
1728
Isaac Greenwood is the first Hollis Professor Of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
1738
John Winthrop succeeds Greenwood as Hollis Professor
1780
Williams succeeds Winthrop as Hollis Professor
1789
Samuel Webber (A.B. 1784) succeeds Williams as Hollis Professor
1807
John Farrar succeeds Webber as Hollis Professor
1816
Jacob Bigelow is the first Rumford Professor of Physics
1833-1834
Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy under the superintendence of Benjamin Pierce
1834
Daniel Treadwell succeeds Bigelow as Rumford Professor
1836-1837
Benjamin Pierce becomes University Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He is head of the Dept. and assisted by Joseph Lovering
1837-1838
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy become two separate Departments. The Department of Mathematics headed by Pierce and the Department of Natural Philosophy headed by Joseph Lovering
1838
Joseph Lovering succeeds Farrar as Hollis Professor
1840-1841
Department of Natural Philosophy becomes Department of Physics
1847
Lawrence Scientific School established
1847
Eben Norton Horsford succeeds Treadwell as the Rumford Professor
1863
Wolcott Gibbs succeeds Horsford as Rumford Professor
1871-1872
A physical laboratory in set up in Harvard Hall under the charge of Assistant Professors John Trowbridge and George Hill
1884
Jefferson Physical Laboratory opens; Lovering is its first director
1888
Benjamin Osgood Peirce succeeds Lovering as Hollis Professor
1888
Trowbridge succeeds Lovering as Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory and succeeds Gibbs as Rumford Professor
1892
the Department of Physics employs George Thompson as its first skilled machinist
1906
the Graduate School of Applied Science established; Wallace Clement Sabine is Dean
1910
Theodore Lyman succeeds Trowbridge as Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory
1912
the Graduate Schools of Applied Science supersede the Graduate School of Applied Science; Sabine continues as Dean
1914
Agreement is reached between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard results in closure of Graduate Schools of Applied Science
1914
Sabine succeeds Peirce as Hollis Professor
1914
Edwin Herbert Hall succeeds Trowbridge as Rumford Professor
1915
Cruft laboratory opens under the direction of George Washington Pierce and Emory L. Chaffee
1917
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts dissolves the cooperative agreement between MIT and Harvard
1917-1918
Activities of the Department relate to World War I
1918
the Harvard Engineering School is established
1921
Theodore Lyman succeeds as Hollis Professor
1921
George Washington Pierce succeeds Hall as Rumford Professor
1926
Frederick A. Saunders Chairman of the Department
1926
Percy Williams Bridgman succeeds Lyman as Hollis Professor
1931
Research Laboratory of Physics completed; Lyman is its first director
1932
the Harvard Engineering School is superceded by the Graduate and Undergraduate Schools of Engineering
1938
Cyclotron constructed
1940
Emory Leon Chaffee succeeds Pierce as Rumford Professor
1940
Edwin C. Kemble Chairman of the Department
1940
Efforts related to World War II begin
1940
Electro-Acoustic Laboratory established and directed by Dr. L.L. Beranek
1941
Underwater Sound Laboratory established and directed by Prof. F.V. Hunt
1942
Radio Research Laboratory established
1943
Cyclotron requisitioned by the Manhattan Project; Prof. Kenneth T. Bainbridge is recruited by the government to work at Los Alamos
1944
J.H. Van Vleck Chairman of the Department
1945
Roger W. Hickman appointed Associate Director of the Physics Laboratories
1947
Hickman succeeds Lyman as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1947
Research Laboratory of Physics renamed the Lyman Laboratory of Physics
1948
Otto Oldenberg Chairman of the Department
1949
Synchrocyclotron and Nuclear Laboratory open
1949
The Graduate School of Engineering merges with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to create the Division of Engineering Sciences
1950
Low temperature laboratory completed
1951
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck succeeds Bridgman as Hollis Professor
1951
the Division of Engineering Sciences renamed the Division of Applied Science
1952
Kenneth T. Bainbridge Chairman of the Department
1953
Frederick Vinton Hunt succeeds Chaffee as Rumford professor
1955
J.C. Street Chairman of the Department
1955
Division of Applied Science renamed the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics
1959
W. M. Preston Chairman of the Department
1960
J.C. Street Acting Chairman of the Department
1962
Cambridge Electron Accelerator is operational
1965
Wendell H. Furry Chairman of the Department
1966
W. M. Preston succeeds Hickman as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1968
R.V. Pound Chairman of the Department
1969
Andrea Mattei Gleason succeeds Van Vleck as Hollis Professor
1972
Paul C. Martin Chairman of the Department
1972-1973
Work at theCambridge Electron Accelerator comes to an end
1973
Completion of the Science Center
1974
Nicolaas Bloembergen succeeds Hunt as Rumford Professor
1975
Michael Tinkham Chairman of the Department
1975
Robert V. Pound succeeds Preston as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1977
the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics renamed the Division of Applied Sciences
1978
Karl Strauch as Chairman of the Department
1980
Michael Tinkham succeeds Bloembergen as Rumford Professor
1983
Prof. Costas Papaliolios Director of the Physics Laboratories
1982
Richard Wilson Chairman of the Department
1984
Ronald C. Vanelli appointed Director of the Physics Laboratories
1985
Francis M. Pipkin Chairman of the Department
1988
Bertrand I. Halperin Chairman of the Department
1989
Margaret Law succeeds Vanelli as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1991
Howard Georgi Chairman of the Department.
1992
Bertrand I. Halperin succeeds Gleason as Hollis Professor
1994
Gary J. Feldman Chairman of the Department
1997
the Division of Applied Sciences renamed the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
1997
David P. Nelson Chairman of the Department
1999
Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory celebrated its 50th anniversary
2002 June 2
Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory was shut down at 9:00 am
The study of physics at Harvard, of course, predates this. Natural philosophy and physics-related studies were part of the first curriculum at Harvard when it opened in 1636. Here are some institutional dates:
1728
Isaac Greenwood is the first Hollis Professor Of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
1738
John Winthrop succeeds Greenwood as Hollis Professor
1780
Williams succeeds Winthrop as Hollis Professor
1789
Samuel Webber (A.B. 1784) succeeds Williams as Hollis Professor
1807
John Farrar succeeds Webber as Hollis Professor
1816
Jacob Bigelow is the first Rumford Professor of Physics
1833-1834
Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy under the superintendence of Benjamin Pierce
1834
Daniel Treadwell succeeds Bigelow as Rumford Professor
1836-1837
Benjamin Pierce becomes University Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He is head of the Dept. and assisted by Joseph Lovering
1837-1838
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy become two separate Departments. The Department of Mathematics headed by Pierce and the Department of Natural Philosophy headed by Joseph Lovering
1838
Joseph Lovering succeeds Farrar as Hollis Professor
1840-1841
Department of Natural Philosophy becomes Department of Physics
1847
Lawrence Scientific School established
1847
Eben Norton Horsford succeeds Treadwell as the Rumford Professor
1863
Wolcott Gibbs succeeds Horsford as Rumford Professor
1871-1872
A physical laboratory in set up in Harvard Hall under the charge of Assistant Professors John Trowbridge and George Hill
1884
Jefferson Physical Laboratory opens; Lovering is its first director
1888
Benjamin Osgood Peirce succeeds Lovering as Hollis Professor
1888
Trowbridge succeeds Lovering as Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory and succeeds Gibbs as Rumford Professor
1892
the Department of Physics employs George Thompson as its first skilled machinist
1906
the Graduate School of Applied Science established; Wallace Clement Sabine is Dean
1910
Theodore Lyman succeeds Trowbridge as Director of the Jefferson Physical Laboratory
1912
the Graduate Schools of Applied Science supersede the Graduate School of Applied Science; Sabine continues as Dean
1914
Agreement is reached between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard results in closure of Graduate Schools of Applied Science
1914
Sabine succeeds Peirce as Hollis Professor
1914
Edwin Herbert Hall succeeds Trowbridge as Rumford Professor
1915
Cruft laboratory opens under the direction of George Washington Pierce and Emory L. Chaffee
1917
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts dissolves the cooperative agreement between MIT and Harvard
1917-1918
Activities of the Department relate to World War I
1918
the Harvard Engineering School is established
1921
Theodore Lyman succeeds as Hollis Professor
1921
George Washington Pierce succeeds Hall as Rumford Professor
1926
Frederick A. Saunders Chairman of the Department
1926
Percy Williams Bridgman succeeds Lyman as Hollis Professor
1931
Research Laboratory of Physics completed; Lyman is its first director
1932
the Harvard Engineering School is superceded by the Graduate and Undergraduate Schools of Engineering
1938
Cyclotron constructed
1940
Emory Leon Chaffee succeeds Pierce as Rumford Professor
1940
Edwin C. Kemble Chairman of the Department
1940
Efforts related to World War II begin
1940
Electro-Acoustic Laboratory established and directed by Dr. L.L. Beranek
1941
Underwater Sound Laboratory established and directed by Prof. F.V. Hunt
1942
Radio Research Laboratory established
1943
Cyclotron requisitioned by the Manhattan Project; Prof. Kenneth T. Bainbridge is recruited by the government to work at Los Alamos
1944
J.H. Van Vleck Chairman of the Department
1945
Roger W. Hickman appointed Associate Director of the Physics Laboratories
1947
Hickman succeeds Lyman as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1947
Research Laboratory of Physics renamed the Lyman Laboratory of Physics
1948
Otto Oldenberg Chairman of the Department
1949
Synchrocyclotron and Nuclear Laboratory open
1949
The Graduate School of Engineering merges with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to create the Division of Engineering Sciences
1950
Low temperature laboratory completed
1951
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck succeeds Bridgman as Hollis Professor
1951
the Division of Engineering Sciences renamed the Division of Applied Science
1952
Kenneth T. Bainbridge Chairman of the Department
1953
Frederick Vinton Hunt succeeds Chaffee as Rumford professor
1955
J.C. Street Chairman of the Department
1955
Division of Applied Science renamed the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics
1959
W. M. Preston Chairman of the Department
1960
J.C. Street Acting Chairman of the Department
1962
Cambridge Electron Accelerator is operational
1965
Wendell H. Furry Chairman of the Department
1966
W. M. Preston succeeds Hickman as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1968
R.V. Pound Chairman of the Department
1969
Andrea Mattei Gleason succeeds Van Vleck as Hollis Professor
1972
Paul C. Martin Chairman of the Department
1972-1973
Work at theCambridge Electron Accelerator comes to an end
1973
Completion of the Science Center
1974
Nicolaas Bloembergen succeeds Hunt as Rumford Professor
1975
Michael Tinkham Chairman of the Department
1975
Robert V. Pound succeeds Preston as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1977
the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics renamed the Division of Applied Sciences
1978
Karl Strauch as Chairman of the Department
1980
Michael Tinkham succeeds Bloembergen as Rumford Professor
1983
Prof. Costas Papaliolios Director of the Physics Laboratories
1982
Richard Wilson Chairman of the Department
1984
Ronald C. Vanelli appointed Director of the Physics Laboratories
1985
Francis M. Pipkin Chairman of the Department
1988
Bertrand I. Halperin Chairman of the Department
1989
Margaret Law succeeds Vanelli as Director of the Physics Laboratories
1991
Howard Georgi Chairman of the Department.
1992
Bertrand I. Halperin succeeds Gleason as Hollis Professor
1994
Gary J. Feldman Chairman of the Department
1997
the Division of Applied Sciences renamed the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
1997
David P. Nelson Chairman of the Department
1999
Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory celebrated its 50th anniversary
2002 June 2
Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory was shut down at 9:00 am
For more information, please see this finding aid from the University Archives, "Harvard University. Department of Physics. Records of the Harvard University Department of Physics : an inventory," Harvard University Archives, http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=hua01999 (accessed 09/10/2014)
"Early History of the Department," Department of Physics, Harvard University, http://www.physics.harvard.edu/ (accessed 09/10/2014)