This report is part of an annual national survey that examines salaries of full-time teaching faculty in 54 selected academic disciplines. Data for the study were collected from a total of 296 public and 390 private four-year institutions from the baseline year of 1996-97 to the trend year of 1999-2000. A data table lists average salaries for both public and private participating institutions by faculty rank, faculty mix percent, and salary factors. Salary trend information is compared for public and private institutions for each of the two study periods with trend information for all fields and with the Consumer Price Index. This portion of the study covers salary data for physics faculty at 235 public institutions and 253 private institutions. The study found that for the 1999-2000 period the average salary of $62,026 for 2,054 physics faculty in public institutions and $64,080 for 1,052 physics faculty in private institutions were, respectively, 8.1 percent and 17.1 percent higher than the average salary for all faculty in all major fields. The average salary increase for the study period was, respectively, 1.3 percent per year and 1.1 percent per year above the cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Appended are lists of the 54 selected academic disciplines and the participating public and private colleges. (SM)