Dr. Michael Guenther
Affiliate Professor of Physics
Physicists are explorers of the physical universe seeking to understand the fundamental behavior of nature from elementary particles to galaxies.
Physics, as a natural science, is a core component of a liberal education, and learning science requires the development and application of critical thinking skills to the natural and man-made world. The members of the physics department are devoted to learning and teaching about the ways in which the physical aspects of our existence can be understood and shaped by qualitative and quantitative reasoning within the framework of physics, the foundation of the natural sciences.
The physics department provides an excellent liberal education experience for GVSU students with student tailored physics courses and programs, mentored research experiences with faculty, and outreach activities.
Check out the following links:
- Why Study Physics? Find out by clicking on the link: Why Physics?
- Employment data for bachelor's degree recipients: The graphics include data on sectors and field of employment as well as starting salaries for new physics and astronomy bachelors.
- Who’s Hiring Physics Bachelors? - The resource contains state by state lists of some of the employers who have recently hired new physics bachelors. The lists is useful to (1) physics majors in identifying the variety of companies that hire physics bachelors and (2) to physics departments wishing to strengthen contacts with local employers.
Physics Program
The Department of Physics is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It offers a Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) with a major in physics. Our robust program engages students in observation, experimentation, and theoretical study of the various phenomena of nature. The Physics Department offers:
Why should you be a physics major at GVSU?
- Dynamic group of Faculty: Our active, enthusiastic, and caring faculty are engaged in excellent teaching, scholarly activities, and community service. Faculty actively pursue cutting-edge academic research projects with the students. Research interests of our faculty include acoustics, astronomy and astrophysics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics, physics education, gravitation and cosmology, nuclear physics, biophysics, and medical physics.
- Excellent Facilities: Smaller size upper division physics classes provide personal attention to each student from our outstanding faculty. We have NSF funded state-of-the-art computing cluster for computational work.
- Department Growth: Our department continues to grow and we expect this growth to continue. The number of physics majors also have grown in recent years. Many of our physics graduates have found good paying jobs in both academia and industry. To learn more check out our "Physics Alumni Profile."
- Outreach: Faculty and students participate in a variety of physics outreach activities throughout the year to promote science education in Michigan and especially to create an interest in physics among middle and high school students.
We are always looking for interested and motivated students who are enthusiastic about physics and who want to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics. Explore our website for details.
If you are interested please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Physics Help Corner
Need help with your physics homework?
Physics Faculty News
Tenure and Promotion
Dr. Sofia Karampagia and Dr. Joshua Veazey were tenured and promoted to Associate Professors of physics for their excellent student centered teaching, research, and professional service to the physics department and the university. Congratulations to them for their hard work and dedication to our students.
Physics Alumni Profile
Dr. Doug Coleman (2011)
Clinical Medical Physicist at Mayo Clinic, Mankato, Minnesota.