In 1890, University of Chicago founder John D. Rockefeller and University president William Rainey Harper created an intellectual culture that led to more than a century of scientific innovation, advancing existing fields of inquiry and creating new ones, like particle cosmology and cosmochemistry.

From Yerkes to the Giant Magellan Telescope, UChicago scientists and mathematicians are developing technologies of unprecedented scope, power, and precision; answering some of the universe’s most puzzling mysteries; and asking tomorrow’s questions today. This autumn quarter the University celebrates its 125th anniversary with a series of lectures, panels, and events, culminating in the 525th Convocation on December 11, 2015, in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

The Division of the Physical Sciences joins in this celebration of history, affirmation of its founding principles, and dedication to future progress by noting some of the division’s most noteworthy breakthroughs. To explore more of the University’s scientific history, visit Crerar Library’s exhibit A Bold Experiment: The Origins of the Sciences at the University of Chicago, running through March 31, 2016.

1897

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Yerkes Observatory, George Ellery Hale.

1909

Physics

Electron charge measurement, Robert Millikan.

1920s

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Expanding universe, Mount Wilson Observatory, Edwin Hubble.

1942

Physics

First chain reaction, Enrico Fermi.

1950s

Chemistry

Carbon-14 dating, Willard F. Libby.

1971

Geophysical Sciences

Fujita Tornado Scale, Tetsuya “Ted” Fujita (1971).

1974–83

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Black holes proposal, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

1999

Computer Science

Grid computing, Ian Foster.

2009

Mathematics

Proof of the fundamental lemma of the Langlands Program, Ngô Bao Châu.

2012

Physics

Higgs boson discovery, 2,000+ US-based physicists, many from UChicago.

2021

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Giant Magellan Telescope, Wendy Freedman.