University of Minnesota. Dept. of Physics.

The department of physics began at the University of Minnesota in 1889 when Frederick S. Jones was hired as professor of physics. In 1902, the first physical laboratory, now Jones Hall, was completed. The current physics laboratory building was built in 1928 and renamed the Tate Laboratory of Physics in 1963. In 1956, the department of physics in the College of Science, Literature and the Arts was raised to the status of a school and transferred to the Institute of Technology. In 1963, the department of astronomy was combined with the School of Physics to become the School of Physics and Astronomy.

Over the years, the department, and its faculty, has been instrumental in the development of nuclear and cosmic-ray physics. On February 29, 1940, Professor A.O.C. Nier, by means of a mass spectrometer, isolated U-235; Professor J. Williams, as Atomic Energy Commissioner, assisted in the development of the national atomic energy program; and professors Phyllis St. Cyr Freier, Edward Ney and C. Jake Waddington discovered the first evidence of heavy ions in cosmic rays. The School of Physics and Astronomy is currently home to the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (FTPI), a major international center for research in theoretical physics.

From the guide to the Department of Physics papers, 1886-1972, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University Archives [uarc])