Colorado State University’s department of physics is entering a new chapter under the leadership of Kristen Buchanan, who was recently appointed department chair. A longtime faculty member and expert in experimental condensed matter physics, Buchanan now leads one of CSU’s most research-active science departments with a focus on growth, collaboration and student success.
Buchanan stepped into the role following Jacob Roberts, who now serves as interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences. Her appointment comes at a pivotal period for the department, as it looks to expand research, improve undergraduate and graduate programs and deepen interdisciplinary connections across campus.
Buchanan emphasized that one of her top priorities is “helping to look for opportunities to try and further our goals of doing amazing research, of supporting students.”
“We’ve managed to secure some funding for updating the undergraduate laboratories, and so that’s something, and we’re pretty excited about that. We’re adding some new labs to … our (level) 200 and up undergraduate laboratories.” –Kristen Buchanan, department of physics chair
Expanding on the goal of supporting students, Buchanan has been setting up an undergraduate curriculum committee to make sure students are provided the best tools and knowledge as possible before entering the next steps of their career.
“I also set up an undergraduate curriculum committee because one of the big priorities within our department is to try and make sure that we’re looking at what kinds of skills students need when they graduate and making sure that we are trying to align our program for that,” Buchanan said. “So we want to try and modernize our offerings. We’ve added a computational course, now we’re trying to weave that into some of our advanced courses.”
Buchanan has been a member of CSU’s physics faculty since 2008. In that time, she earned national recognition for her research on nanomagnetism, studying how magnetization behaves in nanoscale systems with implications for spintronic devices and data storage. Her extensive background in both experimental work and simulation has helped position CSU as a player in cutting-edge materials research.
Buchanan is now focusing on leading the department as a whole, with a vision that extends beyond her own lab. One of her primary goals is to implement both small- and large-scale changes for the department. Among the small changes is the installation of new carpet in the Physics department building. In contrast, larger changes involve ensuring that the curriculum is designed so that all students — from undergraduates to graduates — can achieve their goals and be adequately supported in their educational journeys.
“We’ve managed to secure some funding for updating the undergraduate laboratories, and so that’s something, and we’re pretty excited about that,” Buchanan said. “We’re adding some new labs to … our (level) 200 and up undergraduate laboratories.”
The department of physics currently supports more than 100 undergraduate students, numerous graduate students and a dynamic research portfolio. Faculty-led projects range from quantum optics to atmospheric physics, and the department has recently made strides in improving its teaching labs and curriculum.
Another motion that has been in place since Buchanan became chair is a computational physics class.
“We ran it first as a pilot program two years ago, and then it ran last fall,” Buchanan said. “ It’s now part of our undergraduate program. … They learn how to use Python to solve physics problems and to also learn new tools for things like plotting and analyzing data, which is super useful for anything that they’re going to do going forward, and it’s immediately useful for the undergraduate laboratory courses.”
Buchanan also plans to maintain the department’s strong tradition of public outreach, including events like CSU’s Little Shop of Physics.
Other physics faculty members have expressed strong support for Buchanan’s leadership. Many say she brings not only scientific expertise but also the ability to listen, build consensus and guide long-term planning.
Reach Riley Paling at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @rileypaling
