University of Memphis Department of Physics and Materials Science

04/02/2026

09/22/2025

Join us for an unforgettable early World Space Week event on Friday, September 26, when four Apollo flight controllers will share their memories amid film clips from Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo. Bill Weppner has generously given presentations about the Apollo Mission to the Moon in the Memphis area and on campus for the past 8 years. We honor and appreciate Bill for his willingness to share his memories, and we will celebrate his 90th birthday that evening as well. 5:00 pm reception, 6:00pm panel program at the Maxine A Smith University Center.

04/02/2025

Our faculty hosted an eclipse viewing in front of Manning Hall on April 8, 2025. Dr. Benjamin Keller was in charge of the event and he made sure that everyone wore eclipse glasses when viewing the Sun, or viewed it through his telescope with a solar filter. When he ran out of eclipse glasses, he showed others how to punch pinholes in a business card and project the eclipse onto one's hand.
Devin Walker created a highlight video of the scene.

While I was the Audio/Visual Editor for the University of Memphis’ independent student newspaper The Daily Helmsman, I covered U of M’s Solar Eclipse Gatheri...

04/02/2025

Our faculty hosted an eclipse viewing in front of Manning Hall on April 8, 2025. Dr. Benjamin Keller was in charge of the event and he made sure that everyone wore eclipse glasses when viewing the Sun, or viewed it through his telescope with a solar filter. When he ran out of eclipse glasses, he showed others how to punch pinholes in a business card and project the eclipse onto one's hand.

Benjamin Naylor took the time lapse photos of the eclipse from Paragould, AR.
Devin Walker created a highlight video of the scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxZkrTo-epI

04/02/2025

Join us for the 9th Annual Lois McGlothlin Donaldson Endowed Lecture in Physics on Friday, April 4, at 6:30 pm, in the Maxine A Smith University Center, with a reception at 6:00 pm.

The lecture, "From Memphis to the Edge of the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope," will be delivered by UM Astrophysicists Dr. Benjamin Keller, a numerical astrophysicist, and Dr. Francisco Muller Sanchez, an observational astrophysicist, both of whom have used the telescope in their exploration of the Universe!

This event is free to all and is designed for the public. Convenient parking is in the Zach Curlin parking garage. Its 3rd floor connects to the 2nd floor of the University Center. This event is located in the UC Atrium and UC Theater on the first floor. Parking will be $3 per hour in the parking garage. At 6:00 pm there is free parking in the lots on Zach Curlin and on Central Ave. Street parking is free anytime on Zach Curlin.

You can register for an in-person tour of the Memphis Voyage Solar System (MVSS) using the QR code on the flyer below or going to the MVSS webpage which is within our website, memphis.edu/physics

04/02/2025

In January, 2025, the UM Department of Physics and Materials Science regionally hosted the American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics. There were about 150 students who participated. It was a dream of the Department Chair, Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, that we regional host this conference. It was approved in 2020 but was canceled due to the Covid shutdown of in person events. At long last, this year it became a reality! The feedback has been excellent! Thanks to all of our faculty and graduate students who planned and implemented this conference. It was like nothing that had been done before. Thanks to our plenary speakers as well as to all who agreed to be on panels. The poster session at which research was presented was very impressive! Lots of networking began, and we hope that it will enrich the lives and careers of the students who came to be with us. On the last day a large group visited the National Civil Rights Museum where we got a group photo. We had a group photo in front of the Administration building.

Thanks also to videographer Devin Clark for creation of this highlight reel that captures the essence of the conference.

12/07/2024

The Department of Physics and Materials Science here at the University of Memphis has the great honor of being selected as a regional host for the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP).

Since 2009, Dr. Firouzeh Sabri has had the goal of hosting this conference. As Chair of the Department of Physics and Materials Science since January of 2020, she has worked to make this happen and is thrilled to see it come to fruition. Help us include as many applicants as possible. 100% raised by this MomentUM campaign will go toward the cost of student participation in this event. Please share.

Click on the campaign site below to see the history and case for supporting undergraduate women and gender minorities in physics. Link to a short video of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell telling her story of discovering Pulsars in 1967 and how she was not included in the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics for that discovery. In 2018 she was awarded a $3 million Breakthrough Prize and donated the entire amount to encourage women to study physics.

Conferences like Cu*iP take a step toward ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender, can study and work in physics if they choose. A smaller percentage of graduate degrees are awarded to women in physics than to women in any other field. Only about 25% of master's degrees and 20% of PhDs in physics are awarded to women. https://momentum.memphis.edu/project/44958?fbclid=IwY2xjawHBaiZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHaBRm_8ukAngbvqm418iSbaD4-GdPGB1zIpcrz6LcCOkoSy3-w5z_Cqn_w_aem_YBlisR1D6PeTEXnUsPtqbQ

Help University of Memphis raise $15,000 for the project: 2025 American Physical Society CU*iP. Your gift will make a difference!

04/19/2023

In observance of Earth Week and Earth Day, as long as it doesn’t rain, join me to get a cosmic perspective of Earth! Come to the Memphis Voyage Solar System scale model on the UM campus, just south of the theater building. We will be launching a little robot representing a photon of light traveling from the model Sun to the model Earth. It will move at the 10 billion to 1 scaled down speed of light into the solar system!

Thursday April 20 at 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm.
Saturday April 22 at 10:00 am-noon
Free parking across Central and Zach Curlin on Saturday!
Limited Golf Cart assistance will be available.

I am sharing a video by Devin Clark, reporter for the University of Memphis paper, The Daily Helmsman. He made this video about The Grand Opening of the Memphis Voyage Solar System, a 10 billion to 1 scale model. He attended several events and interviewed me and Dr. Bennett.

This is "U of M Holds Grand Opening for Memphis Voyage Solar System" by Devin Clark on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/17/2023

Please join us for the Grand Opening of the Memphis Voyage Solar System - one of only a few of these 10 billion to 1 scale models nationwide and the first in the Mid-South region! Presenters include UM Pres. Hardgrave, our Chair, Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, Dr. Jeffrey Bennett, originator of the model, and the Campus School 5th grade. Whenever you are ready to experience it, Take the Voyage! See below for related events on March 24 and 25 for those who can't attend mid-day. Families and teachers may be especially interested in Dr. Bennett's talk on Saturday at 10 am on How to Use the Memphis Voyage Solar System to Teach about Earth and Space Sciences.

03/17/2023

"Pathway to a Post Global Warming Future" is our 2023 Lois McGlothlin Donaldson Endowed Lecture in Physics. It will be delivered by Dr. Jeffrey Bennett on Friday, March 24 at 6:30pm in the UC Theater. Reception at 6:00 pm in the UC Atrium. This is a free public lecture intended to engage everyone. Please join us.

01/31/2023

Save the date of Friday, March 24, 2023!

Daytime: GRAND OPENING OF THE MEMPHIS VOYAGE SOLAR SYSTEM MODEL- a 10 billion to 1 scale model of the Solar System that is 2000 ft long!

Early evening: LOIS MCGLOTHLIN DONALDSON ENDOWED LECTURE IN PHYSICS with reception.

DR. JEFFREY BENNETT WILL SPEAK AT BOTH EVENTS. The exact schedule is still being determined, but please join us for either or both!

01/03/2023

The year in Newsletters...
2022 Holiday Newletter
https://www.memphis.edu/physics/newsletters/dpms_holiday_2022.pdf
2022 Summer Newsletter
https://www.memphis.edu/physics/newsletters/images/dpms_summer_newsletter_2022_final.pdf
2022 Spring Newsletter
https://www.memphis.edu/physics/newsletters/images/dpms_student_newsletter_web.pdf
2021 Holiday Newsletter
https://www.memphis.edu/physics/newsletters/images/dpms_holiday_newsletter_2021.pdf