This is a report of a preliminary study of the job mobility of academic physicists in American higher education institutions that offer a physics major to the baccalaureate level. Survey sampling methods employing a mailed questionnaire were used to collect data from a random sample of 800 academic physicists. The central finding of the study was that academic physicists have had an average of 3.5 jobs and 2.6 employers during their career. Relationships between mobility and social system variables showed the work system to be the most significant context of influences on mobility. Congeniality of colleagues and competency of colleagues were identified as the most important factors in job choices, and economic factors were identified as the least important. Statistically, significant relationships were found for mobility and age, academic rank, teaching activity, administrative activity, tenure, and publications productivity. (LC)