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About the
Departmentof Physics & Astronomy
Themission
of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Howard Universityis to
strive for a recognized level of national and internationalexcellence
in research and teaching in physics and to assure thatstudents of
African American descent and other underrepresented groupsare given the
opportunity to achieve their fullest potential in physics.
TheDepartment
has offered the baccalaureate degree since the early 1920's.The primary
undergraduate goal of the Department of Physics andAstronomy is to
produce a significant number of underrepresentedminority students at
the baccalaureate level who are prepared to entergraduate school in
physics or pursue alternate careers in education,industry, medicine,
etc.
TheDepartment first offered the Master
of Science
degree in the early1930's and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the
early 1960's. Thegoals of the Department at the graduate level include:
1.Being the largest producer in
the country of African Americanphysicists at the doctoral level;
and 2.Being the premiere program of its size in the
country within a fewselected areas of physics.
Thedepartment
currently has a full time faculty of 20 members, majority ofwhom are
African Americans. In the mid 1990's undergraduate enrollmentaveraged
20 students per year and graduate enrollment averaged about30. Over the
years, the programs have produced more than 80 Ph.D.graduates in
physics and over 175 masters students. Approximately 70%of the
doctorate and 75% of the masters graduates have been students ingroups
that have been traditionally under-represented in the field ofphysics.
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