Curator: Stevie Horn
Location: Murray Library - Ground and 3rd Floor
The History of Physics at the University of Saskatchewan spans over a century. The first classes were offered in the 1910-11 session, with only nine students in attendance, all of whom were male. The department expanded over the next decade, and in 1922, the physics building was constructed to meet the special needs of study in that field.
The 1930s saw the first notable involvement of a woman in physics at the University of Saskatchewan, with the arrival of Dr. Luise Herzberg. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the field gradually opened to female students, with a woman achieving a B.Sc. in physics for the first time in 1938, and a Masters in physics being granted to a woman for the first time in 1946. From that point, the University has seen a number of distinguished female physicists rise through its ranks, from former Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Fedoruk who worked on the Cobalt-60 research team, to current faculty members such as space physicist Kathryn Williams.
This display showcases materials related to the history of physics at the University of Saskatchewan, and more particularly female physicists who have played a role in paving the road for all women in science on campus.