Your gift makes a difference!

Contributions from alumni and friends of the department can enhance our ability to provide physics experiences that are essential to the development of our students. There are many components to a successful university physics program that we cannot support with state funds: Scholarships and fellowships for graduate or undergraduate students, faculty and student travel to conferences and visiting speakers. Please consider including the Department of Physics in your annual list of donations. Your tax-deductible donation will be acknowledged with letters from the OSU Foundation and the physics department.

For further information, or if you would like to establish a new fund or endowment, please contact the Chair of the Physics Department (541-737-4631 or physics.chair@science.oregonstate.edu).

Donate online

Visit the OSU Foundation giving page

• Choose your gift amount
• On the fund dropdown ("I want to give to"), select a physics-related fund, which is listed at the bottom of this page.

Donate by mail

Donations should be sent to

The Oregon State University Foundation
850 SW 35th Street
Corvallis, OR 97333.

Designate on the memo line of your check "Physics Unrestricted," or if you would like to make a more specific contribution, select one of the physics funds listed below.

For further information, or if you would like to establish a new fund or endowment, please contact the Chair of the Physics Department by phone (541-737-4631) or physics.chair@science.oregonstate.edu.

Donation designations

Donald J. Nelson Fellowship Endowment Fund

The Nelson Fellowship Fund was established by OSU alumnus Donald Nelson (Ph.D. 1954) and supports excellence in graduate student research.

Physics Fellowship Fund

The Physics Fellowship Fund is for graduate fellowships and graduate student prizes and awards.

Fontana Fund

The Fontana Fund was established by retired Physics Professor Peter Fontana to support excellence in graduate student teaching.

Hetherington Physics Scholarship Endowment Fund

Established by Professor Bill Hetherington and his family for Juniors and Seniors majoring in physics with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Preference is given to students with demonstrated financial need who can benefit from reducing the need to work to focus on scholarship.

Kenneth S. Krane Scholarship Endowment Fund

Established by the family and friends of Ken Krane to recognize his contributions as Chair of Physics from 1984-1998, and particularly his advancement of the cause of women in physics. This supports scholarships for undergraduates in physics.

Nicodemus Memorial Scholarships in Physics Endowment Fund

Established by the family of David Nicodemus, a former physics professor and Dean of Faculty. He retired in 1986 and was recognized for his inspiration and dedication to students and colleagues.

Physics Undergraduate Scholarship Endowment Fund

Supports undergraduate scholarships in physics and engineering physics.

Yunker Lecture Endowment Fund

The Yunker Fund was established by the Yunker family in 1981 to honor Edwin Yunker, department chair from 1949-1966. The fund makes possible the highly successful Yunker lecture series that each year brings a distinguished lecturer in physics to OSU to give a public lecture and meet with faculty and students.

Physics Unrestricted

Unrestricted funds can be used to fund faculty and student travel to conferences, colloquium speaker expenses, new research and teaching initiatives and much more.