Brookhaven's Directors
Samuel H. Aronson
Director,
2006-present
Sam Aronson has continued Brookhaven's commitment to excellence in
science, Laboratory operations, and community service. Prior to
becoming Laboratory Director, Aronson served as Brookhaven's
Associate Laboratory Director for High Energy & Nuclear Physics,
managing the Laboratory's largest directorate and overseeing the
operation of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Aronson is a
Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
Praveen Chaudhari
Director, 2003-2006
Praveen Chaudhari came to Brookhaven after a distinguished career at
IBM. Chaudhari worked to ensure the Laboratory's future by investing
in an upgrade to the National Synchrotron Light Source, known as
NSLS-II; construction of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials;
and interdisciplinary science essential for breakthroughs in energy
and the life sciences. He also oversaw construction of the Research
Support Building. Chaudhari holds 22 patents, including the patent
for the erasable, read-write compact disk technology. He is a member
of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of
Engineering, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences and the American Physical Society.
Peter Paul
Interim Director, 2001-2003
As Deputy Director for Science & Technology under Lab Director John
Marburger, Peter Paul stepped in as Interim Director when Marburger
was called to Washington, D.C. to head the Office of Science &
Technology Policy. When Praveen Chaudhari was named Laboratory
Director, Paul again became Deputy Director. He retired from this
position in 2004 to return to his distinguished professorship at
Stony Brook University. A Fellow of the American Physical Society,
Paul won the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award in 1983.
He was a member of the DOE/National Science Foundation Nuclear
Science Advisory Committee from 1980 to 1983 and served as chair of
the committee from 1989 to 1992.
John H. Marburger, III
Director, 1998-2001
A former president of Stony Brook University, John Marburger was the
first Laboratory Director appointed by BSA, which assumed management
of Brookhaven Lab in 1998. Marburger's administration was marked by
an overarching goal: to do world-class science while ensuring public
health, employee safety and the protection of the environment.
Marburger is recognized for his outstanding leadership in building
public trust in the Laboratory by developing an open and honest
relationship with stakeholders. In 2001, Marburger left Brookhaven
to become Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy, an
office within the White House.
Peter D. Bond
Interim Director, 1997-1998
Stepping up from his post as Physics Department Chair to become
Interim Deputy Director under Lyle Schwartz, Peter Bond then served
as Brookhaven's Interim Director during the transition from AUI to
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) as manager of the Lab for the
Department of Energy (DOE). Bond acknowledged DOE's and the public's
concern about the Lab's ability to respect the environment, safety
and health (ES&H) while doing forefront science. To help change the
culture at the Laboratory, he carried out a management improvement
plan that integrated ES&H issues into all aspects of the
Laboratory's management and increased communication within the Lab
and between the Lab and its stakeholders. Bond is a Fellow of both
the American Physical Society and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
Lyle Schwartz
Interim Director, 1997
As incoming AUI President, Lyle Schwartz served briefly as the
Laboratory's Interim Director. AUI managed Brookhaven Lab from 1947
to 1998. In the aftermath of a tritium leak from Brookhaven's High
Flux Beam Reactor that caused community concern, the Department of
Energy decided, in 1997, to terminate AUI's management contract. AUI
continues to operate the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in
Charlottesville, Virginia, under contract with the National Science
Foundation.
Nicholas P. Samios
Director, 1982-1997
As Laboratory Director, Nicholas Samios led the decade-plus effort
to win funding for and then construct the Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider (RHIC), a world-class facility for nuclear physics
research. Also initiated under Samios' 15-year tenure, the longest
of any Lab Director, were the Center for Imaging and Neuroscience,
an expansion of the National Synchrotron Light Source, the creation
of the Center for Accelerator Physics, and the establishment of the
RIKEN BNL Research Center. He also broke ground for construction of
the Child Development Center and the Science Education Center.
Samios first came to Brookhaven as a summer student, in 1952. Today,
he serves as Deputy Director of the RIKEN/BNL Research Center. A
member of the National Academy of Sciences, Samios won the W.K.H.
Panofsky Prize in recognition of the omega-minus discovery.
George H. Vineyard
Director, 1973-1981
Coming from a faculty position at the University of Missouri, George
Vineyard joined the Laboratory in 1954, rising to the directorship
position in 1973. During Vineyard's nine-year administration,
Brookhaven pursued a strong program in basic research and, in
response to national needs, considerably increased its applied
research, particularly in energy programs. Also during this time,
the National Synchrotron Light Source was developed and constructed.
When he resigned as director, Vineyard returned to full-time
research in solid-state theory. He died in 1987, shortly after
becoming President-elect of the American Physical Society.
Maurice Goldhaber
Director, 1961-1973
Maurice Goldhaber came to Brookhaven in 1950 from the University of
Illinois, where he had been on the faculty. He was named Brookhaven
Director in 1961. During his tenure, the High Flux Beam Reactor and
the Tandem Van de Graaff were built. A number of important
discoveries were made in particle physics, while the Laboratory also
moved further into interdisciplinary research in non-nuclear fields.
His research contributions are in nuclear physics and fundamental
particles, and Goldhaber received the National Medal of Science in
1985. Winning the Enrico Fermi Award in 1999, Goldhaber was cited
for his lifetime of distinguished research in nuclear and particle
physics, including his experiments providing key support for the
standard model, and for his leadership and vision as a science
research manager.
Leland J. Haworth
Director, 1948-1961
Leland Haworth is credited with building a fledgling laboratory into
a world-renowned center for research, particularly in high- energy
physics. Among the "big machines" designed and put into operation
under his direction were the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor,
the Cosmotron and the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. In 1961,
Haworth was appointed a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, and
in 1963, President Kennedy asked him to become Director of the
National Science Foundation, a post he held for six years. Haworth
died in 1979.
Philip M. Morse
Director, 1947-1948
Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) was formed in 1946 to establish
Brookhaven National Laboratory for the federal government. AUI
appointed Philip Morse to serve as Brookhaven's first director. It
was his job to staff and equip the new research laboratory on the
site of the former Army Camp Upton. Morse was on leave from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when he headed the
Laboratory, and he remained affiliated with MIT until his death in
1985. Morse was awarded the Presidential Medal for Merit for his
contributions to the Navy's anti-submarine campaign in World War II.