DEPARTMENT HISTORY |
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A campus-wide rework of the entire curriculum is seen in the late 1950's, just in time for the arrival of President Van Pelt. The old A, B, C course designations, with one to three digits, disappeared and were replaced with the two-letter, three-number scheme used until the change to semesters in 2000. The Physics course numbers began with "PH," Math with "MA," etc., the same as is done today. In the Physics curriculum, a number of "500-level" graduate courses were added in support of the new Master’s programs. The "C" Mechanics courses were given the "EM" designation and those courses were soon sent off to the newly created Engineering Mechanics department (later to be combined with Mechanical Engineering, ME, to form a combined ME-EM department). During the 1950's the instructional demands on the department grew steadily. The demands on the faculty's time and the limited, aging space in Hubbell Hall left little room for any research activities. Despite the considerable growth in the number of faculty, the development of graduate degrees and talk of a more research active faculty, there was an average of under 1 scientific publication per year for the entire physics department. In fact, in 1959 the total externally funded research by the entire MCMT faculty was reported to be about $30,000.
James Fisher still came into his office on a regular basis and was active in alumni affairs up until the summer of 1962, when he suffered a heart attack and passed away a few days later. This was during the final planning stages for the new building for Physics and Math. The ground breaking for the new building occurred in the Fall of 1962 and by December 1962 the MCMT Board of Control, based on recommendations from students and alumni, had decided that the new building should be named in Fisher's honor. Fisher Hall was completed for the Fall of 1964 and the formal dedication on Oct 7, 1964, was quite a show. Photos, stories of the proceedings, and talk of the new modern building dominated the pages of the Daily Mining Gazette for several days.
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Towards the end of the 1950's it became
clear that new space was necessary to handle the growth in the
student population—all needing introductory physics and math courses.
President Van Pelt made a new building to house Physics and Math, as
well as a new library, a high priority. Due to tight state budgets,
raising the funds was difficult but the new building for Physics and
Math was finally started in 1962 and the new library in 1964, the last
year of Van Pelt's presidency. The library now bears his name.
Both of the buildings would be on the South side of College avenue,
along with the Memorial Union. 
