University appoints Hermann Grunder as new Argonne Director

The University has appointed Hermann Grunder, an internationally recognized nuclear and accelerator physicist, as director of Argonne National Laboratory, effective Nov. 1.

Grunder has been director of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), a U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics research laboratory managed by the Southeastern Universities Research Association in Newport News, Va., since 1985.

Previously he served as deputy director of general sciences at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California.

Hermann Grunder

“I have made it my career to serve where I was most needed in the national lab system,” Grunder said. “I am honored that the University of Chicago and the Department of Energy found my knowledge, experience and management style equal to the complex needs of a premier multiprogram lab such as Argonne National Laboratory.”

The University has managed Argonne National Laboratory for the Department of Energy since 1946. “Argonne National Laboratory is a national treasure that the University is proud to manage and we are delighted to have Hermann Grunder take its helm. He is a forceful, smart and dynamic scientific manager,” said President Randel. “His accomplishments at Jefferson Lab and his extensive experience at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, where he forged close working relations with the University of California faculty, will serve him well at Argonne.”

Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson said, “Hermann Grunder is a highly respected leader in the scientific community and was instrumental in establishing and building the department’s newest laboratory. His experience will serve him in good stead as he ensures that Argonne continues to make scientific discoveries and engineering advances that will benefit Americans for years to come.”

Grunder’s work on nuclear physics, high-energy and heavy-ion accelerators, applications of accelerators in medical research, and accelerator technology has been published extensively. He received the Distinguished Associate Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1996, and the U.S. Senior Scientist Award from Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1979.

A native of Basel, Switzerland, Grunder holds a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics from the University of Basel and an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

Grunder succeeds Yoon I. Chang, associate laboratory director for engineering research, who has served as Interim Director since July 1, 1999.

Argonne was the nation’s first national laboratory, chartered in 1946. With sites in Argonne, Illinois, and in Idaho, Argonne is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s largest research centers. Approximately 4,200 employees perform research and engineering work in fields ranging from energy technology to high-speed computing. Argonne’s annual operating budget is approximately $465 million.

The University has been Argonne’s manager and partner throughout its history. Argonne was formed in 1946 as an outgrowth of the Manhattan Project’s Metallurgical Laboratory at the University, which, in 1942, produced the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Today, Argonne performs research across a broad spectrum of scientific and technical areas. In addition to basic and applied research in physics and chemistry, materials science, engineering, computational and mathematical sciences, biology, decision and information science, and nuclear reactor science and engineering, Argonne researchers study problems in energy production and use, the environment, economic competitiveness, and health. They also collaborate with University researchers in many areas, including physics and astrophysics, biology, materials, and computer science with innovative connections to, for example, linguistics and archaeology.

Argonne is home to a wide array of unique research instruments and facilities; prominent among them is the approximately $1 billion Advanced Photon Source, the world’s most powerful source of X-rays. Researchers from universities, businesses and industries from around the world use APS to gain an unprecedented look at the microstructure of advanced materials and to study macromolecular structure in biology. APS and other Argonne facilities are expected to provide new insights into nature and the development of new materials, technologies, medical treatments and other discoveries of importance to the nation.

The search for Argonne’s director was conducted by a committee chaired by Richard Quisenberry, a member of the University’s Board of Governors for Argonne. Quisenberry is a retired vice president for science and engineering laboratories of DuPont.

For more information about Argonne, see http://www.anl.gov/.