Footnotes
Footnote 1
According to the university calendar, the first physics professor was hired
into a temporary Department of Mathematics and Physics in 1915, and it was
in the following year that Physics became a separate department. However,
the departmental tradition, supported by notes made by Prof. Allen (Allen,
1965), who joined the department in 1921, is that the Physics Department
actually had its beginning in 1915. This would not be the only time that
the calendar recognized a decision which was in effect for only a few months,
or which was, in the end, not put into effect at all. For the purpose of
this history we will go along with Prof. Allen, and take 1915 as the beginning
of the Physics Department.
Footnote 2
Throughout this history, square brackets will be used to indicate the period
of time an individual was in physics and/or astronomy at Western. I have
not counted time spent as a post-doctoral fellow, or in a limited-term position,
although before 1967 the latter was not clearly defined. Normally, these
appear the first time a person is named in the history, and they are followed
by the advanced degrees held by the individual. For heads, chairmen and
important individuals in the history, all degrees are given; for other faculty
members only the highest degree is given, except that all degrees from Western
are included.
Footnote 3
Chairmen mutated into chairs at Western in the early 1990s.
