New Director of Argonne named

Eastman has played key roles in science and technology at IBM for the 33 years he has been with the company. Prior to holding his latest position there, he had served as the company's director of hardware development re-engineering at its corporate headquarters and as vice president of systems technology and science at its research division.

"This is a great day for Argonne and an excellent conclusion to a national search," said President Sonnenschein. "Dean Eastman will bring outstanding leadership to the laboratory. He will contribute to a productive partnership of the lab, the Department of Energy and the University. It is a partnership committed to operating the laboratory at the forefront of science and technology and in service to our nation. I am delighted with the board's recommendation and that Dean has accepted."

Eastman has conducted important research in the field of condensed matter physics, surface science, and photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. During his IBM career, he has been involved in many national science and engineering policy and advisory activities. He led IBM's worldwide hardware development re-engineering efforts in recent years to transform the hardware business units, helping to make them again highly competitive with growing revenue and profit.

The author or co-author of 180 publications and the holder of three patents, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named an IBM Fellow in 1974 and received the Oliver E. Buckley Prize in 1980. Eastman received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, where he also served as a visiting professor during 1972-73.

Eastman succeeds Alan Schriesheim, who announced in November that he intended to step down on July 1 after 12 years as director.

With an annual research budget of about a half-billion dollars, Argonne employs nearly 5,000 people at its 1,700-acre site 30 miles southwest of Chicago and at Argonne West in Idaho. It is one of nine Department of Energy multiprogram national laboratories and the only one in the Midwest.