Contact: Portia Agyapong

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State faculty member with more than a decade of service to the university is the new head of MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Professor Jeff Winger begins his role as department head July 1. Winger has served as interim department head since last summer.

“Dr. Winger is well-equipped for the this role with his past experiences as associate and acting head,” said College of Arts and Sciences Dean Rick Travis.

“This experience, coupled with his new ideas, will guide the department to expand its leading role in contributing to the research profile of the university while also addressing the evolving teaching and learning environment. I look forward to working with him in the coming years,” he said.

“I have a few primary goals as a department head,” Winger said.  “First, to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching, especially in the introductory-level courses; second, to improve the experience for our graduate students; and third, to increase the enrollment and retention of undergraduate physics majors.  A final goal is to build on the quality research being performed by faculty and students.”

Winger is the department’s advisor and he also serves on the University Course and Curricula Committee. He has a professional membership with the American Physical Society, Mississippi Academy of Sciences and Mississippi Association of Physicists.  

He holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Iowa State University and bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from University of Kansas. His primary research interests are nuclear structure far from stability, production and use of radioactive ion beams and design of new detector systems.  

Winger’s work has appeared in journals and publications such as Physical Review, Nuclear Physics and The European Physical Journal A-Hadrons and Nuclei.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy prepares students to become informed, responsible and skilled citizens who appreciate the value of the pursuit of scientific knowledge. The Master of Science in Physics degree prepares students to gain a profound knowledge in various areas of physics for a career in industry or academia.

The Ph.D. program is a research-oriented degree with a concentration in physics and an engineering/applied physics that prepares students for careers as scholars and researchers.

For more information about the Department of Physics and Astronomy, visit www.physics.msstate.edu. 

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.