Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) granted tenure effective December 1, 2008, to eight Brookhaven scientists. They are Elaine DiMasi, National Synchrotron Light Source; Rita Goldstein, Medical Department; Yangang Liu, Environmental Sciences Department; Hong Ma, Physics Department; Cedomir Petrovic, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department (CMPMS); Triveni Rao, Instrumentation Division; Tonica Valla, CMPMS; and Paul Vaska, Medical. Tenure appointments are granted by action of the BSA Board after a rigorous selection procedure overseen by the BSA Science & Technology Steering Committee. In making tenure decisions, the BSA Board is advised by members of the Brookhaven Council, an elected body that advises the Director on matters affecting the scientific staff. This is the fourth in a series of profiles.

Hong Ma Receives Tenure

Photo of Hong Ma

Hong Ma

Hong Ma, Physics Department, received tenure for his significant contributions to the understanding of electroweak physics through measurements of rare kaon decays, as well as his leadership in the ATLAS physics program at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in CERN, Switzerland.

Ma received his Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology in 1988 and joined BNL as a research associate in 1989. He became an assistant physicist in 1990, an associate physicist in 1992, with an SSC Fellowship 1990-91, and was named a physicist in 1994. In 1997, he received a continuing appointment.

At BNL, Ma first worked in the rare kaon decay experiments E777 and E851 at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. He then played a central role in E865, which required a new beamline and detector apparatus. In addition to his leadership in designing, mounting, and operating E865, Ma led the analysis of key kaon decays, obtaining results that resolved previous apparent discrepancies with the Standard Model (SM), the accepted model of how matter behaves, and deepened understanding of chiral perturbation theory. Another new E865 measurement for which Ma was key also resolved a SM parameter, the Cabibbo angle, but contradicted longstanding existing measurements. Ma's work was confirmed by two experiments elsewhere and is recognized as an outstanding achievement.

Currently, Ma is co-cordinator of software and data preparation for the liquid argon calorimeter in the ATLAS experiment, an international collaboration of about 2,000 scientists. BNL has principal responsibility for the design, construction, and operation of the liquid argon calorimeter, one of the main elements in the detector. He is also the coordinator for US ATLAS Analysis Support Center at BNL.

Said Tom Ludlam, Physics Department Chair, "Hong is a highly accomplished particle physicist, who can conceive and launch new initiatives. He has the rare ability to extract correct results even if they are unexpected and disagree with current consensus. His significant scientific accomplishments and internationally recognized leadership in the ATLAS experiment fully warrant his promotion to tenure."

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