Department of Physics - Department of Physics

Become a Problem Solver, Scientist, and Leader at The Citadel

Physics majors showing off the spectrometer they designed at our Department Project Exhibition.

Student/faculty collaboration in the Photonics and Nanoengineering Research Lab

We are excited to offer our Applied Physics and Innovation Box to interested students and teachers. Want one? Contact Dr. Hank Yochum.

Physics majors present their senior capstone work.

We are innovators and developers of technology.
We discover the fundamental laws that describe our universe.
We solve practical problems for society.

Join us!

Our department is a small and close-knit physics community focused on working with undergraduate students. In choosing to major in Physics, we offer our students support to grow as scientists and leaders.

We offer a BS in Applied Physics, a new flexible BA in Physics, as well as minors in Aerospace Science and Applied Physics. We also contribute to the minor, housed in the Biology Department, in Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability Studies.

We are excited that you are here to learn more about our department. We offer physics specific scholarships. Please reach out to Dr. Hank Yochum (hyochum@citadel.edu, 843-953-6953) if you have any questions about our department or would like to meet to get a tour of our labs.

News and Upcoming Events

Fall 2025 Applied Physics Experience for High School Students > date and registration info coming soon

May 2025, Congratulations to rising junior physics majors Kaitlyn Hatchew ’27, Connor Salch ’27, and Quentin Walsh ’27 on winning the 2025 US Army DEVCOM STAR Challenge!

May, 2025, Congratulations to physics alum Evan Fish ’22 and Prof. Curtis and on their paper appearing in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

June 2024, Congratulations to undgraduate physics majors Tristan Eberbach ’25, Alex Stensland ’22, Lauren Watts ’24, Prof. Leake, and Prof. Yochum on their paper appearing in Review of Scientific Instruments

May 2024, Congratulations to senior physics majors Jonah Charles ’24 and Vincent Massaro ’24 and students from computer science on winning the 2024 US Army DEVCOM STAR Challenge, and to Tristan Eberbach ’25 and Sarah Norton ’24 on second place! The focus of the challenge was threat detection, and asked students to design a capability to detect items of potential interest to Soldiers.

April, 2024, Congratulations to Prof. Berlinghieri and a team of engineering faculty on their paper in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics!