This building greatly expands both teaching and research facilities. It will enable the physics department to accommodate growth in the faculty that will come as the Ph.D. program is fully implemented. It will also meet the increasing demands of students. At the time of the building's dedication, there are 15 faculty members and 60-70 majors. But many more students use the facility.
Introductory courses attract many non-majors, especially engineering students.
And popular courses like introductory astronomy draw students seeking to fulfill core requirements. Introductory courses alone enroll as many as 900 students each semester. The program has, in fact, had to turn away as many as 200 students per semester, largely because there was no space for extra classes, but also because there were not enough faculty to teach them. The Robert L. Bigelow Physics Building provides space for additional faculty and for the ever-increasing number of students. It also provides lab space for the faculty members who research specialties such as laser physics, astronomy and astrophysics, and condensed-matter physics.