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Physics

The Illinois State University Physics Department offers nationally recognized degree sequences in Physics, Computational Physics, Physics Engineering and Physics Teacher Education. The department is small enough to provide individual attention, yet is large enough to deliver large university opportunities. We average 17 graduates per year, which places in the top 20 out of approximately 500 undergraduate only physics departments nationwide. Our 10:1 student to faculty ratio encourages strong faculty student interactions and offers extensive research opportunities to our undergraduates that are rarely available in graduate departments.

The Physics Teacher Education program is one of the largest in the nation and the Computational Physics degree is among only and handful in the world. Engineering Physics students complete through the junior level of our program and then transfer to a school of their choice to complete the engineering portion of their education. Physics students from all sequences have won numerous national awards including the Apker Award from the American Physical Society, the Lotze Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarships and Fellowships form the NSF and DOD.

Our major fundraising goals for the coming year are to increase scholarship opportunities for both our incoming and continuing students, provide a scholarship to increase the number of women physics majors, and continue the success of the solar car team. Help us enhance our department by making a gift to the Physics Excellence Fund today!

$250,000

Record-Breaker Challenge

This just in, Craig Reeser '75 wants to issue one final challenge. We will unlock a $250,000 planned commitment when we surpass 2,500 gifts before midnight tonight! Let’s do this 'Birds!

479 / 479 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Launch Challenge

Thank you to the first 500 donors who unlocked $25,000 to kick off Birds Give Back! Don’t forget to check with your employer to see if they match your gift!

500 / 500 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

Momentum Challenge

Thank you to the 1000 donors who unlocked $25,000 to keep momentum strong during Birds Give Back!

1,000 / 1,000 Gifts

Completed

$25,000

College of Arts and Sciences Challenge

An anonymous alumna wants us to show our support for the College of Arts and Sciences. She will unlock $25,000 for student scholarships when we receive 150 gifts to the College or its departments today during Birds Give Back.

150 / 150 Gifts

Completed

Leaderboard

Participation by area

Which participating group will receive the most gifts during Birds Give Back? Support your passion and help your area climb the leaderboard!

Rank	Area of Support	Gifts
1	Multicultural Center	390
2	Athletics	355
3	LGBTQ+ Student Support	284
4	Communication	215
5	Redbird Esports	117
6	Accounting	79
7	Student Engagement	77
8	WGLT	73
9	Student Affairs Scholarships	72
10	Center for Civic Engagement	66
11	Support MCN priorities	60
12	Family and Consumer Sciences	59
13	Illinois Shakespeare Festival	59
14	School of Teaching and Learning	59
15	U-High	52
16	Student Scholarships	51
17	Alumni Association Scholarship	50
18	ISUPD Community Engagement Unit	50
19	College of Business Excellence Fund	47
20	Special Education	47
21	Ewing Cultural Center	44
22	School of Music	42
23	Black Colleagues Association Scholarship	39
24	Gamma Phi Circus	38
25	School of Theatre and Dance	38
26	Kinesiology and Recreation	35
27	CAST Student Persistence Fund	34
28	Vidette Digitization Project	34
29	Chemistry	32
30	Criminal Justice Sciences	30
31	Politics and Government	28
32	Finance, Insurance, and Law	28
33	Horticulture Center	27
34	Agriculture	25
35	Wonsook Kim CFA General Fund	25
36	Metcalf	24
37	Friends of the Arts	24
38	Educational Administration & Foundations	23
39	Technology	22
40	Information Technology	22
41	Marketing	21
42	Health Sciences	21
43	College of Arts and Sciences Funds	20
44	Biological Sciences	19
45	Wonsook Kim School of Art	18
46	Military Science - ROTC	18
47	International House	18
48	Pay it Forward Business Scholarship	17
49	History	17
50	More ways to support Milner Library	17
51	College of Education Persistence Awards	16
52	Creative Technologies Program	16
53	Mathematics	14
54	Sociology and Anthropology	13
55	CAST additional priorities	12
56	Communication Sciences and Disorders	12
57	Geography, Geology and the Environment	11
58	Latinx Alumni Network Scholarship	11
59	Physics	9
60	Social Work	9
61	Psychology	9
62	Management and Quantitative Methods	9
63	Languages, Literatures, and Cultures	8
64	English	8
65	The Graduate School	8
66	University Galleries	6
67	Economics	4
68	International Business	3
69	Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies	2
70	Latin American and Latino/a Studies	1
71	Marian H. Dean Legacy Scholarship	0
72	Philosophy	0

Ended

$10,000

Campus Community Challenge

Thanks to 250 faculty, staff, retiree donors for unlocking $10,000 during Birds Give Back!

250 / 250 Donors

Completed

$25,000

Redbird Romance Challenge

Rod Sargeant '65, '67 wants to celebrate his Redbird romance and challenge us to reach our goal of 2,021 gifts to show Redbirds we’ve got their backs in 2021. He will unlock $25,000 to establish a scholarship in memory of his wife, Darlene Ann Sargeant '66 when we reach our goal today. Rod encourages you to make your gift in honor of, or in memory of, a Redbird you love.

521 / 521 Gifts

Completed

Success!

Football Alumni Challenge

Redbird football alumni Hank (’70, ’71) and Joan Guenther '69 will add $5,000 to support our strength and conditioning project when 5 other football alumni give $1,000 each to the effort today during Birds Give Back.

Completed

Participating Groups

Alumni Association Athletics Center for Civic Engagement Ewing Cultural Center The Graduate School International House College of Applied Science and Technology College of Arts and Sciences College of Business College of Education Mennonite College of Nursing Milner Library Multicultural Center Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts Lab Schools Student Affairs WGLT

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Or you can contact us at annualgiving@illinoisstate.edu.

Illinois State University