DEPARTMENT HISTORY |
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Try, Try againDuring the late 1970's the University was determined to developed research and PhD graduate programs in the Engineering and Science disciplines. In fact, the lack of a strong graduate program in Physics, especially condensed matter physics, had been recently cited as a reason for the failure of a major proposal to the National Science Foundation for a Materials Research Laboratory. In 1980 University of Illinois Professor A. Barry Kunz was brought in as a consultant to help build such a program in the Physics Department. His involvement continued over the next few years as a visiting professor, and then as an adjunct faculty member. Kunz had previously been a candidate for the headship. Around the same time, a "Physics of Solids" option to the existing Metallurgy PhD program was started to help boot-strap the graduate program in physics. Kunz, based on his previous decade’s experience at the University of Illinois, came with a very strong research record and a vision of what a strong research department was about. He was to spark the development of research in the department, centered on condensed matter physics, and was instrumental in helping to rebuild the physics faculty. The Institute for Condensed Matter Physics was formed as a vehicle to bring prominent physicists to campus, principally for a summer workshop, and Kunz was appointed its director.
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