Department History
Instruction in physics was first offered at the University of Nevada in 1887, followed by the formal organization of the Physics Department as an academic unit in 1907. A Ph.D. program in physics was established in 1961, with additional options initiated in atmospheric physics in 1968 and chemical physics in 1992.
Traditionally, as part of a land-grant university, a major component of the Physics Department's instructional mission has been to underpin the other sciences, mathematics and engineering. The implementation of the university's core curriculum in the 1990's broadened that mission and marked a period of substantial growth, particularly of the Department's research enterprise. A milestone in the development of the Physics Department was the dedication of the Nevada Terawatt Facility by Senator Harry Reid in 2000.
