Welcome

Williams College is proud of its strong undergraduate program in physics.  We offer a wide variety of courses ranging from introductory surveys through advanced tutorial courses.  In the tutorials students meet two at a time with the professor and work on challenging problems.  Graduating students tell us that our tutorials are among the best courses they have taken at Williams.

Research is part of our DNA.  Students join faculty members in both theoretical and experimental research projects.  Three Williams professors have been recognized for their mentorship of undergraduate research by the American Physical Society (1989, 2007, and 2017). Six of our students have won the LeRoy Apker Award (1999, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2015, and 2022).  This national award is the highest honor for physics research by an undergraduate student in the United States. Williams students have won more Apker Awards than students from any other primarily undergraduate college.

We have a relatively large department for an institution devoted to undergraduate teaching and research.  We graduate an average of about 20 physics or astrophysics majors each year.  Our robust numbers of faculty and majors gives us the critical mass necessary to provide outstanding opportunities to study physics, while offering close interactions between students and faculty.

Our graduates do a variety of interesting things after college, including advanced study in the sciences and engineering, and employment in computer programming, teaching, medicine, law, and business. Click here for a complete list of what our graduates do.

We are part of the joint Department of Physics and Astronomy — click here for information about astronomy at Williams.

Recent highlights (click on an image for more information):