100 Years of NC State Physics
On November 3-4, NC State’s Department of Physics celebrated its 100th anniversary with a fun weekend of family-friendly activities, talks, tours and demonstrations.
The celebration honored a century of rich history, as well as showing off the department’s bright future. Explore 100 years of physics at NC State.
- 1884: First physics professor hired at NC State
- 1917: Physics becomes an independent department
- 1953: First nuclear reactor in an academic setting is completed on NC State’s campus
- 1965: NC State joins the newly formed Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory
- 1990: President George H.W. Bush visits the lab of Jan Schetzina
- 1991: The Science House K-12 outreach program is founded, with physics professor David Haase as its first director
- 2003: WebAssign, created by physics professor John Risley, becomes the first major startup to come out of the department
- 2006: The department begins moving into its newly renovated home in Riddick Hall
- 2017: Department celebrates its 100th anniversary
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