The College of Science at the University of Utah is an

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

college of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. The college offers

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and graduate degrees in atmospheric science,

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, chemistry,

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

, mathematics,

metallurgical engineering Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

mining engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

History

Science has been a part for the University of Utah curriculum since the beginning of the school's history in 1850 as the University of Deseret. Dr. Cyrus Collins was initially the only professor and taught mainly in the sciences. During the second quarter, W. W. Phelps was hired as a second professor and the school was opened to women. New scientific instruments were acquired from local donors or sent for from the eastern United States. The third professor hired at the university was Orson Pratt, who taught astronomy, mathematics, and algebra. The university then closed during a period of scarcity due to crop failures and drought, and reopened in 1867. A science curriculum culminating in a BS degree was offered in 1870, becoming a 4-year degree in 1884-85. This curriculum focused on mathematics, natural, and physical sciences, as well as classes in history, political economy, theology and moral philosophy. In 1878, Joseph T. Kingsbury joined the chemistry faculty and became chair of chemistry and physics. By this period a regular series of public science lectures were offered and there was a chemical laboratory located in the basement of the University Hall building. By the 1890s, 400 students were enrolled and the university offered BA and BS degrees in classical, scientific, and normal programs. The University of Deseret was renamed as the University of Utah in 1892 and degree programs in the traditional academic departments of letters, arts, and sciences were organized under the University College. In 1957, the University College became the College of Letters and Science under dean and philosophy professor

Sterling M. McMurrin Sterling Moss McMurrin (January 12, 1914 – April 6, 1996) was a liberal Mormon theologian and Philosophy professor at the University of Utah. He served as United States Commissioner of Education in the administration of President John F. Kennedy. ...

. In 1970 under Dean Milton Voight, the College of Letters and Science was divided into three separate colleges: the College of Humanities, the College of Science, and the College of Social and Behavioral Science. In 2021, the College of Science merged with the College of Mines and Earth Sciences and includes eight academic units: the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Department of Mathematics, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Department of Mining Engineering and the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Buildings

LeRoy Cowles Building

The LeRoy Cowles Building was designed by Richard Kletting and completed in 1901. As one of the first three buildings on campus it first served as the University of Utah library. Since 1951 it has housed the Department of Mathematics. It was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978 and officially named for LeRoy Cowles in 1980. The building was significantly renovated in 2002 to add the T. Benny Rushing Mathematics Student Center and a plaza connecting the Cowles Building to the Widtsoe Building.

John Widtsoe Building

This building was designed by Richard Kletting and completed in 1901. That same year, the building was nearly destroyed by fire. Only the foundation and walls were left standing. Fortunately, these were in good condition and the building contents had been restored or replaced by the time the university opened in 1902. Uses of the building have been primarily for the sciences, with chemistry, physics and mathematics taught there through several generations. In 1976 the building was named the John A. Widtsoe Building, after the former president of the University of Utah who served from 1916 to 1921.

James Talmage Building

Built in 1901 and designed by Richard Kletting, this building originally served as the campus museum of natural history, and was later changed to the Biology building in 1959. In 1976 the name of the building was changed from North Biology Building to James E. Talmage building, named after former president James E. Talmage, who served from 1894–1897. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 2000x1333-Crocker-Ext-F

George Thomas Building / Crocker Science Center

Designed by Ashton and Evans, this building was completed in 1935 and named after former university president George Thomas, who served from 1921–1941. When first built it served as the University of Utah library, but later became the home of the Utah Museum of Natural History in 1968. In 2011 the Utah Museum of Natural History moved to a completely new building (in Rio Tinto, Salt Lake City) and changed its name to Natural History Museum of Utah. In 2018 the University of Utah dedicated the building as the ne
Gary & Ann Crocker Science Center
which consists of an interior renovation and an addition to the building. The CSC is also home to the Science Research Initiative, Henry Eyring Center for Cell and Genome Science, the U.’s Center for Science and Math Education, and the College of Science Dean's office and staff.

Henry Eyring Building

Completed in 2004 and designed by Pollard Architects. The Henry Eyring Building (HEB) is named after Henry Eyring, a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy (1966-1981) and a former dean of the Graduate School (1946-1966). Dr. Eyring received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and taught in Wisconsin, Berlin, and Berkeley before making his way to Utah in 1946. He was a former president of the American Chemical Society (1963), and the U still has an active ACS student chapter. 77A2053 MattCrawley

Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry

Completed in 2013. The Thatcher Building for Biological and Biophysical Chemistry is named in honor of the Lawrence E. and Helen F. Thatcher family, whose generous gift made the new facility possible. Located adjacent to the Henry Eyring Chemistry Building, the five-story structure provides space for much-needed research labs for the Department of Chemistry. 2000x1333-Campus-Biology-Spring-A

Aline Wilmot Skaggs Building

Completed in 1998 and designed by Edwards & Daniels / Anshen & Allen. The building is named for Aline Wilmot Skaggs, a philanthropist whose aim was to alleviate human suffering. Though designed primarily for research, the building includes two large lecture halls, the largest is where the Frontiers of Science, the university's longest-running lecture series, is regularly staged. CoS DSF3035 MattCrawley

South Biology Building

Completed in 1967 and designed by William F. Thomas. South Biology became the catalyst for a new emphasis in cellular and molecular microbiology research at the U, including the hiring of Mario Capecchi, the Nobel Laureate whose original lab was in the building. In 2018, the department of Biology was renamed the School of Biological Sciences, to better encapsulate the focus on the breadth of the discipline, ranging from cell biology to ecology.

South Physics Building

Completed in 1930. The South Physics Building is the home of the South Physics Observatory and AstronUmers headquarters. The South Physics Observatory normally holds weekly Star Parties with their multiple telescopes. It also contains multiple research labs, offices, a physics graduate student lounge, and a large computer lab.

James Fletcher Building

The James Fletcher Building is home to the Physics & Astronomy department. It was built on the site of an old observatory in the 1960s. It is named for James C. Fletcher, the 8th president of the University of Utah (1964-1971). After being president of the University of Utah, James Fletcher served as the 4th and 7th Administrator of NASA. He was responsible for the early planning of the Space Shuttle program, and later for its recovery and return to flight after the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.

Departments

The College of Science is made up of four departments:

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, Chemistry, Mathematics, and

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

. There are also a number of interdisciplinary programs administered by the College. The Center for Science and Mathematics Education offers K-12 STEM education programs, a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in science for secondary school teachers, and administers the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair which serves as the regional qualifier for the

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more th ...

. As of 2016, the College of Science consists of 171 full-time faculty members distinguished for excellence in research and education, teaching more than 300 courses per semester, and approximately 2,067 undergraduate and 525 graduate students pursuing bachelor, master and doctoral degrees in the departments of

, Chemistry, Mathematics, and

Biology

The School of Biological Sciences offers undergraduate degrees and three overlapping graduate training programs: Molecular,

Cellular Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics * Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more * ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands *Cell ...

, and

Evolutionary Biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

(MCEB),

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and Organismal Biology (EEOB), and Microbial Biology. The department also offers minor programs in secondary school teaching certification and integrative human biology (jointly with the Department of Anthropology). Faculty research interests span a wide variety of phenomena and disciplines and the department has major research funding that supports initiatives in: * Behavior *

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

structural biology Structural biology is a field that is many centuries old which, and as defined by the Journal of Structural Biology, deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every le ...

* Cell biology * Developmental biology *

Environmental biology Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogra ...

Ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

Evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

* Genomics * Microbial biology *

Neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

functional morphology Functional may refer to: * Movements in architecture: ** Functionalism (architecture) ** Form follows function * Functional group, combination of atoms within molecules * Medical conditions without currently visible organic basis: ** Functional sy ...

Plant biology Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry offers

Bachelors of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, Bachelors of Science, and PhDs. There are nine emphases offered for undergraduates: professional (traditional chemistry major), biology, business, chemical engineering, geology, materials science and engineering, mathematics, physical chemistry, and teaching. The department has major research funding that supports initiatives in: *

Analytical Chemistry Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

Biological Chemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

* Inorganic Chemistry * Materials Science *

Organic Chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...

Physical Chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

The department has facilities for

NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with ...

, mass spectrometry,

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

, and

optical spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matte ...

. Additionally, the affiliated

USTAR The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) is a technology-based economic development agency funded by the state of Utah. The organization works to develop ideas and research into marketable products and successful companies throug ...

Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry core provides

synthetic chemistry As a topic of chemistry, chemical synthesis (or combination) is the artificial execution of chemical reactions to obtain one or several product (chemistry), products. This occurs by physics, physical and chemical manipulations usually involving o ...

medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developme ...

, and library screening services to investigators at the University of Utah and to industry partners. The department also houses the University of Utah

Scientific Glassblowing Scientific glassblowing is a specialty field of lampworking used in industry, science, art and design used in research and production. Scientific glassblowing has been used in chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic and physics research including Gal ...

shop to provide repairs, modification, and custom designs for

borosilicate glass Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), m ...

or quartz apparatus. It is also one of only eight universities worldwide to offer training and courses in scientific glassblowing for students. Since 1980, the department has also hosted the annual free public Faraday Chemistry Christmas Lecture. University chemistry professors Ronald Ragsdale and Jerry Driscoll started the yearly tradition to recreate

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

's Christmas lecture series for children at the

Royal Institution of Great Britain The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

in 1827. The lecture series demonstrates chemistry experiments designed to inspire and entertain audiences. Tickets become available in October and are often sold out before December. After 24 years, Ragsdale and Driscoll retired in 2005 and the annual lecture has continued with a new faculty duo chosen each year.

Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics ranks 16th among public educational institutions in the United States, and has graduated two Churchill Scholarship recipients in recent years. It offers undergraduate majors with emphases in statistics, computation, applied mathematics, and teaching. The department also offers masters programs in statistics, pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and PhDs. Main faculty research areas are: * Algebraic geometry *

Applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

Commutative algebra Commutative algebra, first known as ideal theory, is the branch of algebra that studies commutative rings, their ideals, and modules over such rings. Both algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory build on commutative algebra. Prom ...

Geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

and

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

* Mathematical biology *

Number theory Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mat ...

Probability theory Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set ...

and statistics *

Representation theory Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebraic structures by ''representing'' their elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies modules over these abstract algebraic structures. In essen ...

Physics & Astronomy

The Department of Physics & Astronomy offers bachelors, masters, and PhD programs in physics and astronomy. The department supports research in the following areas: *

and astrophysics *

Biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

Cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ow ...

* Condensed matter physics *

Medical physics Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...

Particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

The department administers the

Telescope Array Project The Telescope Array project is an international collaboration involving research and educational institutions in Japan, The United States, Russia, South Korea, and Belgium. The experiment is designed to observe air showers induced by ultra-high- ...

, which comprises over 507

particle detector In experimental and applied particle physics, nuclear physics, and nuclear engineering, a particle detector, also known as a radiation detector, is a device used to detect, track, and/or identify ionizing particles, such as those produced by nu ...

s in

Millard County, Utah Millard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 12,503. Its county seat is Fillmore, and the largest city is Delta. History The Utah Territory legislature created the county o ...

, designed to observe air showers induced by

ultra-high-energy cosmic ray In astroparticle physics, an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) is a cosmic ray with an energy greater than 1 EeV (1018 electronvolts, approximately 0.16 joules), far beyond both the rest mass and energies typical of other cosmic ray parti ...

s using a combination of ground array and air-fluorescence techniques. The Project is the direct successor of the HiRes cosmic ray detector that operated in the western Utah desert by the

Dugway Proving Ground Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) is a U.S. Army facility established in 1942 to test biological and chemical weapons, located about southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and south of the Utah Test and Training Range. Location Dugway P ...

from 1997 to 2006. The HiRes detector made the first observation of the

Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit The Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit (GZK limit or GZK cutoff) is a theoretical upper limit on the energy of cosmic ray protons traveling from other galaxies through the intergalactic medium to our galaxy. The limit is (50 EeV), or about 8 j ...

, which indicates the highest energy

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

s that interact with the

Cosmic Microwave Background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...

and the universe becoming opaque to their propagation. The HiRes detector also recorded the "

Oh-My-God particle The Oh-My-God particle was an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray detected on 15 October 1991 by the Fly's Eye camera in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, U.S. It is the highest-energy cosmic ray ever observed. This particle's energy was unexpected an ...

", an

recorded as possessing 320 exa-electron volts (EeV) of energy. The department also possesses the only observatory on campus with

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...

s. The foundation also donated funds in 2009 to install another observatory, the Willard L. Eccles Observatory in the

San Francisco Mountains The San Francisco Peaks (Navajo: , es, Sierra de San Francisco, Hopi: ''Nuva'tukya'ovi'', Western Apache: ''Dził Tso'', Keres: ''Tsii Bina'', Southern Paiute: ''Nuvaxatuh'', Havasupai-Hualapai: ''Hvehasahpatch''/''Huassapatch''/''Wik'hanbaja' ...

in southern Utah.

Notable alumni

Biology

Willis J. Gertsch Willis John Gertsch (October 4, 1906 – December 12, 1998) was an American arachnologist. He described over 1,000 species of spiders, scorpions, and other arachnids, including the Brown recluse spider and the Tooth cave spider. Gertsch was born ...

(MS 1930) – arachnologist who described over 1,000 species of arachnids, including the

Brown recluse spider The brown recluse (''Loxosceles reclusa''), Sicariidae (formerly placed in a family "Loxoscelidae") is a recluse spider with necrotic venom. Similar to those of other recluse spiders, their bites sometimes require medical attention. The brown r ...

and the

Tooth cave spider The Tooth Cave spider, formerly ''Neoleptoneta myopica'', now ''Tayshaneta myopica'', is a long spider in the family Leptonetidae. It is endemic to limestone caves near Austin, Texas in the United States and is considered an endangered species ...

Michael Ghiselin Michael T. Ghiselin (born May 13, 1939) is an American biologist and philosopher as well as historian of biology, formerly at the California Academy of Sciences. He is known for his work on sea slugs, and for his criticism of the falsification of ...

(BA 1960) –

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

biologist internationally recognized for work on

sea slugs Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary time ...

, and has had both a species ('' Hypselodoris ghiselini'') and the defensive chemical that it contains (''ghiselinin'') named after him

Chemistry

* James F. Bonner (BA 1931) – plant biochemist noted for discovering an efficient process for collecting

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

from trees * Wilbert L. Gore (MS 1935) – co-inventor of

Gore-Tex Gore-Tex is a waterproof, breathable fabric membrane and registered trademark of W. L. Gore & Associates. Invented in 1969, Gore-Tex can repel liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through and is designed to be a lightweight, waterpr ...

fabrics *

Tracy Hall Howard Tracy Hall (October 20, 1919 – July 25, 2008) was an American physical chemist and one of the early pioneers in the research of synthetic diamonds, using a press of his own design. Early life Howard Tracy Hall was born in Ogden, Uta ...

(BS 1942, MS 1943, PhD 1948) – invented synthetic diamonds * Kirk Ririe (BS 2005) – co-founder of BioFire Diagnostics, a medical device and diagnostics company formally known as Idaho Technology, and member of the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame * Thomas Ypsilantis (BS 1949) – co-discovered the

antiproton The antiproton, , (pronounced ''p-bar'') is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are stable, but they are typically short-lived, since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy. The exis ...

Mathematics

* Richard Eliot Chamberlin (BS 1943) – geometric topologist, visiting scholar at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

, and

Invited Speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians This is a list of International Congresses of Mathematicians Plenary and Invited Speakers. Being invited to talk at an International Congress of Mathematicians has been called "the equivalent, in this community, of an induction to a hall of fame." ...

John E. Dennis John Emory Dennis, Jr. (born 1939) is an American mathematician who has made major contributions in mathematical optimization. Dennis is currently a Noah Harding professor emeritus and research professor in the department of computational and app ...

(PhD 1966) – Editor-in-Chief and Founder of the SIAM Journal on Optimization, pioneered convergence analysis of quasi-Newton methods *

Gordana Matic Gordana Matic is a Croatian-American mathematician who works as a professor at the University of Georgia. Her research concerns low-dimensional topology and contact geometry. Matic earned her doctorate from the University of Utah in 1986, under t ...

(PhD 1986) – geometric topologist,

C. L. E. Moore instructor The job title of C. L. E. Moore instructor is given by the Math Department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to recent math Ph.D.s hired for their promise in pure mathematics research. The instructors are expected to do both teaching and rese ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, Fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

John Warnock John Edward Warnock (born October 6, 1940) is an American computer scientist and businessman best known for co-founding Adobe Systems Inc., the graphics and publishing software company, with Charles Geschke. Warnock was President of Adobe for ...

(BS 1961, MS 1964) – computer scientist; co-founder of Adobe Systems Inc. * Alan Ashton (HBA '66) Co-founder of Wordperfect * Peter Bjorklund (BS '65) President of Social Systems Studies Corporation * Carolyn Connel (PhD '80) Professor at Westminster College* * Kent Cannon (BA '79) CEO at Beneficial Financial Group * Richard Carone (BS '70) CEO at Korvis Automation, Inc. * William Coleman (BS '84) Assistant Vice President at Merrill Lynch * Robert Gardiner (BS '91) CEO at Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC * Barton Giddings (HBS '87) Partner at Stoel Rivers, LLP * Nicholas Gibbs (BS '82) Vice President at Collins Aerospace * Ray Greer (BS '86) CEO at Omnitracs LLC * William Grua (MST '98) CFO at Industrial Health Incorporated * David Grant (BA '78) Founder & President at Metalcraft Technologies, Inc. * Leonard Ericksen (BS '63) Chief Product Development at United States Air Force * Jeannette Legge (BS '87) Global Commercialization Director at Molex Inc. * Yonghao Ma (PhD '91) Founder & President at PahrmStats Ltd. * Stephen Newman (BS '63, MS '65, PhD '68) Professor at Northern Kentucky University* * Ahmad Ouri (BS '92) CEO at SONIFI Solutions, Inc. * William Rinard (BS '78) CEO at Airwave Networks, Inc. * Thomas Saxton (HBA '83, MA '85) Chief Science Officer at Plug in America * Gregory Starley (BS '76) Managing Director & Owner of Star Portfolio Ventures, Inc * Yuanhua Tang (PhD '93) Founder & CEO at First Dimension BioSciences * Mark Watkins (MS '87) Co-founder & CEO at Goby * Nancy Wentworth (HBA '71) Emeritus Chair of Department of Teacher Education and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Brigham Young University * J. Stanford Willie (BS '72) Chief Investment Officer at The Colorado Health Foundation * Jay Blaine (BS '87) Director of Policy & Research at the Utah Education Association * Brooks Brady (BS '97) Vice President at Zions Bank * Elizabeth Copene (PhD '09) Senior Director of Software Development at BioFire Diagnostics * Timothy Carstens (MS '10) Founding Researcher at Invese Limit, LLC. * Katie Dodds (BS '14, MS ') Director, Revenue Systems at Extra Space Storage * Evan Dudley (BS '10) Vice President at Goldman Sachs * Berton Earnshaw (PhD '07) Machine Learning Fellow at Recursion Pharmaceuticals * Stacy Ford (HBS '99) Corporate Finance at Jamberry * Adam Gully (BS '09) Director of Data Science at Progressive Leasing * Eric Griego (BS '09) Global Investment Researcher at Goldman Sachs * Ming He (PhD '93) Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase * McKay Hyde (HBS '97) Managing Director at Goldman Sachs * Jeffrey McNeal (BS '09) Data Analyst at the United Way of Salt Lake * Adele Morris (MS '87) Fellow and Policy Director for Climate and Energy Economics at The Brookings Institute * Tom Robbins (MS '00, PhD '04) Vice President of Software Development at BioFire Diagnostics * Cameron Soelberg (HBS '00, MS '02) Managing Director at UBS Financial Services * Peter Sommerkorn (BS '09) Executive Director, Strategy at Pratt & Whitney * Jeffrey Thomas (BS '92) Director of Product Management at Vivint, Inc. * Jia Wang (MST '12, PhD '14) Associate at Goldman Sachs * Dylan Zwick (PhD '14) Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Pulse Labs * Yuchen Zhang (PhD '14) Software Engineer at Google

Physics and Astronomy

Edwin Catmull Edwin Earl "Ed" Catmull (born March 31, 1945) is an American computer scientist who is the co-founder of Pixar and was the President of Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has been honored for his contributions to 3D computer graphics, including th ...

(BS 1969) – co-founder of

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

* John C. Cook (BS 1941) – played a crucial role in establishing the field of ground-penetrating radar * Michael Doleac (MS 2014) – former professional basketball player in the NBA currently teaching physics at Park City High School * David Evans (BS 1949, PhD 1953) – computer scientist and graphics pioneer and co-founder of

Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a pioneering American computer firm in the computer graphics field. Its current products are used in digital projection environments like planetariums. Its simulation business, which it sold to Rockwell Collins, sold products ...

Christopher R. Johnson Christopher Ray Johnson (born January 17, 1960, in Kansas City, Kansas) is an American computer scientist. He is a distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Utah, and founding director of the Scientific Computing and Imagi ...

(PhD 1990) – founding director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Award, and recipient of the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology * Don L. Lind (BS 1953) – American

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

and a former

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...

and aviator, and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

astronaut * Frederic Parke (BS 1965) – made the first

3D animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

of a human face * William T. Silfvast (PhD 1965) - made significant contributions to gas discharge lasers, Distinguished Staff at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...

Notable faculty

Mladen Bestvina Mladen Bestvina (born 1959) is a Croatian-American mathematician working in the area of geometric group theory. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Utah. Biographical info Mladen Bestvina is a thr ...

– major contributor to the field of

geometric group theory Geometric group theory is an area in mathematics devoted to the study of finitely generated groups via exploring the connections between algebraic properties of such group (mathematics), groups and topology, topological and geometry, geometric pro ...

, fellow of the

, three-time medalist at the

International Mathematical Olympiad The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except i ...

, and visiting scholar at the

* Dale Clayton – taxonomist of '' Strigiphilus garylarsoni'' * Stephen David Durrant – mammalogist specializing in rodents of the Great Basin * Henry Eyring – theoretical chemist; twenty-year dean of the graduate school *

Martin Fleischmann Martin Fleischmann FRS (29 March 1927 – 3 August 2012) was a British chemist who worked in electrochemistry. By Associated Press. Premature announcement of his cold fusion research with Stanley Pons, regarding excess heat in heavy ...

and Stanley Pons – noted for controversial and irreproducible work on

cold fusion Cold fusion is a hypothesized type of nuclear reaction that would occur at, or near, room temperature. It would contrast starkly with the "hot" fusion that is known to take place naturally within stars and artificially in hydrogen bombs and p ...

in the 1980s and 1990s *

Kenneth M. Golden Kenneth "Ken" Morgan Golden is an American applied mathematician and Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah. He is recognized as the "Indiana Jones of Mathematics" for his work in polar climate modeling and has traveled to the polar reg ...

- considered the "Indiana Jones of mathematics" for his work and expeditions to study polar sea ice, Fellow of the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and

Christopher Hacon Christopher Derek Hacon (born 14 February 1970) is a mathematician with British, Italian and US nationalities. He is currently distinguished professor of mathematics at the University of Utah where he holds a Presidential Endowed Chair. His res ...

– fellow of the

, received Cole Prize for work in higher dimensional

birational geometry In mathematics, birational geometry is a field of algebraic geometry in which the goal is to determine when two algebraic varieties are isomorphic outside lower-dimensional subsets. This amounts to studying mappings that are given by rational ...

Roger Horn Roger Alan Horn (born January 19, 1942) is an American mathematician specializing in matrix analysis. He was research professor of mathematics at the University of Utah. He is known for formulating the Bateman–Horn conjecture with Paul T. Bate ...

– co-developed the Bateman-Horn conjecture and co-wrote the standard-issue ''Matrix Analysis'' textbook with Charles Royal Johnson * James Keener – pioneer in the field of mathematical physiology and cardiology and

SIAM fellow The SIAM Fellowship is an award and fellowship that recognizes outstanding members of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The goal of the program is to: *honor SIAM members who are recognized by their peers as distinguished ...

* Graeme Milton – received

SIAM Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Ralph E. Kleinman Prize for contributions to the field of modeling composite materials,

, and Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship recipient *

Nalini Nadkarni Nalini Nadkarni is an American ecologist who pioneered the study of Costa Rican rain forest canopies. Using mountain climbing equipment to make her ascent, Nadkarni first took an inventory of the canopy in 1981, followed by two more inventories i ...

– pioneered the study of

Costa Rican Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the n ...

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

canopies,

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

* Wiesława Nizioł – Invited Speaker at the 2006 International Congress of Mathematicians *

Baldomero Olivera Baldomero Olivera (born 1941) is a Filipino chemist known for discovery of many cone snail toxins important for neuroscience. These molecules, called conotoxins, led to a breakthrough in the study of ion channels and neuromuscular synapses. He di ...

– discovered and first characterized E. coli DNA ligase, a key enzyme of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology *

Thomas J. Parmley Thomas Jennison Parmley (November 2, 1897 – September 15, 1997) was an American physics professor at the University of Utah. He served as chairman of the UofU's physics department from 1957 to 1963. Parmley was born in Scofield, Utah to William a ...

– physics professor and chair of the department *

Jon Seger Jon Allen Seger is an American evolutionary ecologist, and Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Utah. He helped develop the theory of bet-hedging in biology. His work has appeared in leading scientific journals such as ''Nature' ...

– evolutionary

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

noted for work on bet-hedging * Pierre Sokolsky – led the

High Resolution Fly's Eye Cosmic Ray Detector The High Resolution Fly's Eye or HiRes detector was an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray observatory that operated in the western Utah desert from May 1997 until April 2006. HiRes used the atmospheric fluorescence technique that was pioneered ...

project that made the first observation of the GZK cutoff and the

, leading to the development of

physics *

Peter Stang Peter John Stang (born November 17, 1941) is a German American chemist and Distinguished Professor of chemistry at the University of Utah. He was the editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' from 2002 to 2020. Biography ...

– editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society; recipient of the National Medal of Science

College deans

Since the official formation of the College of Science in 1970, there have been eleven deans.

References

{{Coord missing, Utah University of Utah Education in Salt Lake City 1970 establishments in Utah University subdivisions in Utah