Histories of UT Physics Department Centers of Excellence
In 1962, Harold Hanson, recently appointed Chair of the UT Physics Department, conceived the idea of creating centers of excellence in the Department. The organized groups would initially have administrative and operating resources from the University and would be strongly encouraged to recruit outstanding additions to the faculty, both established scientists and promising assistant professors. The centers would aggressively recruit faculty, but final approval would remain the purview of the Budget Council. Harold believed that concentrations of faculty and research staff in a group would encourage collaboration, provide more national and international visibility and provide a stronger platform to seek outside research funding. Al Schild jumped at the idea and immediately labelled his relativity group “Center for Relativity.” The centers, in the ensuing years, richly realized Harold’s vision and continue to be an important part of the Physics Department.
★Center for Complex Quantum Systems*
(*formerly The Ilya Prigogine Center for Studies in Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems)
★Center for Nonlinear Dynamics
★Center for Particles and Fields
★Texas Center for High Energy Density Sciences