Physics in the 1980s
1980
The Physics Building is renamed the Loomis Laboratory of Physics.
1982
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation establishes an endowed chair at the University of Illinois. After a campus-wide competition among 14 departments for the chair, Anthony J. Leggett is named the MacArthur Professor of Physics.
John Bardeen and Tony Leggett, 1982
Associate Professor of Physics Laura B. Eisenstein argues before a national APS meeting that more women should be encouraged to study physics and that women who have already chosen careers in physics must be assured of equal opportunities for advancement. Head Ralph O. Simmons chairs a joint APS/American Astronomical Society to examine the status of academic positions for women in physics and astronomy.
1983
Alumnus Dale A. Gardner (BS, Engr Phys, '70) becomes the first Illini in space as the commander of the space shuttle Challenger's September 30–October 5 mission. (Gardner will command the Discovery November 1984 mission as well.)
1984
An arson fire set by a deranged man nearly destroys Loomis Laboratory of Physics, causing extensive smoke and fire damage on three floors and structural damage on the second and third floors. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Physics faculty and staff, the department is open for classes and business-as-usual 36 hours later.
Assistant Professor of Physics Larry Smarr submits proposal #8404556 to the
National Science Foundation to establish a supercomputer center at the University of Illinois.
"It still amazes me that I—an assistant professor at the time—had the nerve to author an unsolicited proposal for $55 million to the NSF," Smarr said in 2006. He sought the guidance of Head Ralph Simmons on how best to deliver the document.
"Ralph suggested that we put it in an envelope marked 'Director, NSF,' hop on a plane, and deliver it the NSF's Math and Physical Sciences assistant director Marcel Bardon, whom Ralph knew well. That someone of Ralph's stature was willing to support a junior professor like me in such a substantial way speaks volumes about his leadership."
1985
Professor Lorella Jones pioneers the use of computerized quizzes for a large elementary physics course at Illinois, one of the earliest developments of its kind, nationwide.
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications opens in Urbana, one of the five original NSF supercomputer centers. Larry Smarr (Physics) is named its director.
1986
Stephen Wolfram is recruited from the Institute for Advanced Study to establish a Center for Complex Systems Research in Physics.
Ralph Simmons decides to return to teaching and research full-time, and Ansel C. Anderson, another Illinois alumnus, takes over as head.
1987
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, also known as "Star Wars") raises scientific and political controversy. The American Physical Society releases it report, " The Science and Technology of Directed Energy Weapons," which concludes that the technology of laser and particle beams is immature and will require more than a decade of research before any meaningful decision about deployment can made. Professor of Physics Jeremiah Sullivan, who served on the study panel, has full access to the classified programs. Following release of the APS report, the thrust of the programs of the SDI shifts to more conventional rockets and interceptors.
1989
Sony Corporation gives its largest-ever gift to an American university, $3 million, to establish the John Bardeen Endowed Chair in the Departments of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Wolfram Research, founded by Stephen Wolfram in 1987, releases Mathematica®.
