• Check out our new JMU Physics & Astro Blog. http://jmuphysics.blogspot.com/
• ...and the JMU Physics  & Astronomy facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harrisonburg-VA/JMU-Department-of-Physics-and-Astronomy/47610976537
• For all of our students and faculty: "WELCOME!", and a good 2009-2010 School Year!
• The JMU Physics and Astronomy Department welcomes the newest members of our faculty: Dr. Giovanna Scarel, Material Science, and Dr. Anca Constantin, Astronomy.
• Employment opportunities:
•     Currently the JMU Physics and Astronomy Department seeks applicants to fill two tenure-track positions at the Assistant Professor level. Learn more about these here
•     Additionally, we are seeking qualified applicants to fill a two-year, non-tenure track position. Learn more about it here
• Pictures from the Fall 2009 edition of the Physics and Astronomy Department picnic (Purcell Park, Oct. 3, 2009) are  here
• Oct. 2nd, 2009: The Phi Beta Kappa Society has voted to establish a chapter of the nation's oldest academic honor society at James Madison University. Read more about it here

Spring 2007

• Congratulations to Mark Mattson who was part of the group awarded this year's Madison Award for Teamwork. The award honored the staff of the Science and Mathematics Learning Center which Mark co-directs along with Chuck Cunningham and a team of JMU physics majors and other science and math majors. Good work, Mark!
• The annual Spring Research Symposium is coming up on March 31. The program is here.
• Scholarship season is here. If you are a junior or senior and would like to apply for one of the many scholarships offered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, complete the application here by March 16.
• Coming soon, the Department of Physics and Astronomy!!! Permission was recently given to rename the Department of Physics to  the Department of Physics and Astronomy. We have chosen to make our name match the versatility of offerings in our department both in terms of curriculum (such as the astronomy minor) and research.

Fall 2006

• Welcome to the incoming class of physics majors including 33 freshmen and 2 transfer students. Good luck on your success as physicists at JMU!
• Summer was a busy time for research at JMU as usual. Click here to find out more about what we did.
• The Physics Department mourns the passing of former department head John Wells...more
• Congratulations to the graduates of the class of 2006...pictures here.
• The Department of Physics will be hosting a joint meeting of the Chesapeake Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (CSAAPT) and the Virginia Instructors of Physics (VIP). Abstracts for 20-minute talks are being accepted. For more information, go to the CSAAPT website, the VIP website or the home site for the conference.
• The JMU Physics Department will be offering an enrichment program for high school students on Saturdays this fall called "Introduction to Robotics". The sessions will run for six Saturdays and will allow a small group of students to work with JMU Physics faculty on hands-on projects. The program is being organized by Ioana Niculescu and more information is available here.

Spring 2006

• Congratulations to the winners of the awards for best student presentation at our 2006 Spring Symposium...more
• The Physics Department mourns the passing of former department head John Wells...more
• Good work...JMU Physicists have been busy presenting their research and scholarship at national and regional conferences...more
• Student awards ceremony held on April 12, 2006...details here
• Congratulations to the graduates of the class of 2006...pictures here

Fall 2005

• The big news in the fall of 2005 is our new building. We moved all of the laboratories and offices from Miller Hall in May 2005 to the new Physics/Chemistry Building (PHCH) on the east side of I-81 (the "Skyline Area" on the official campus map - note that on the map our building is listed as A3a and under construction). Dedication events for the building are now being planned and more information will be available on this page later this fall.
• The JMU Physics Department will be offering an enrichment program for high school students on six Saturdays this fall. The sessions will run in three sets of two Saturdays each and will allow a small group of students to work with JMU Physics faculty on hands-on projects that are related to their areas of research. The program is being organized by Ioana Niculescu and more information is available here.
• Best wishes to the fifteen physics majors who graduated last May. This brings the total number of graduates in physics from JMU during the '04-'05 academic year to seventeen. Based on the most recent year that national statistics were available, this ranks JMU in the top 8% of physics departments nationally and in the top 10 of departments without graduate programs in number of B.S. degrees granted. In this year's class there are students starting graduate school at Boston University (engineering), Duke University (physics), Georgia Tech (physics), North Carolina State University (atmospheric science), UNC-Chapel Hill (Physics), and the University of Virginia (materials science) as well as taking jobs in the aviation industry and teaching.
• Welcome to the 26 incoming freshman physics majors and 9 transfer students who are new to our department this fall. Through classes, social events, faculty advising, and peer mentoring, we hope to get to know all of you and help you to be successful here at JMU.

Spring 2005

• JLAB will be having their open house on Saturday, April 16, 2005 in Newport News. Ioana Niculescu is planning to organize a trip there for this event. Please contact her for more information.
• Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the Undergraduate Physics Research Symposium to be held on Saturday, April 9, 2005. Students and faculty who would like do either an oral or poster presentation of their research are encouraged to submit abstracts by February 28. More information is available here.
• Information about scholarships and awards available on web.

Fall 2004

• JMU Physics Majors Present Research at SESAPS Conference
• JMU astronomers photograph transit of Venus.
• Welcome to all the new faces in the department for the Fall of 2004. We have three new faculty members: Scott Paulson, Sean Scully, and Brian Utter. Also, Gabriel Niculescu has now become a permanent faculty member after serving last year in a one-year appointment. In addition, we have a new group of freshman physics majors and several transfers. Welcome to all!
• Congratulations to all of our 2004 graduates. Our class of 11 has moved on to graduate schools such as Georgetown, Florida State, Maryland, and Oklahoma State, and to jobs in industry and teaching. Best of luck to all.
• Safe travels to Bill Ingham who will be spending fall term at Acadia University in Canada. We look forward to his return in the spring.
• Congratulations to our own Mark Mattson who was one of the five All Together One honorees named by the university this past spring. Good work Mark.
• Congratulations also to Joe Rudmin and Jon Staib who were both promoted to the rank of full professor last spring.
• Be sure to check out the pictures of our future home in Building A3a.
• Our most recent department newsletter is now available. Click here for a copy.