Eastman to join Physics faculty at end of term

Dean Eastman has announced that he will complete two years as Director of Argonne National Laboratory this summer and then begin devoting his full energies to research and teaching as Professor in Physics at the University.

Eastman said that after giving much of his last 17 years to scientific administration, first at IBM and then at Argonne, he is looking forward to "finding a new balance between my professional and personal interests and to getting back to those things that have always held special rewards for me -- performing scientific research and working with students and research collaborators." He added that during his two years as director of Argonne, "we have made significant progress in both programmatic and operations policies and practices. Argonne today is well-positioned to further strengthen its reputation as a world-class research laboratory."

The Argonne Board of Governors has begun a process to select Eastman's successor.

At the University, which operates Argonne under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy, President Sonnenschein thanked Eastman for his service at Argonne and said he welcomed his full participation on campus.

"Argonne has benefited greatly from Dean's scientific leadership, his commitment to excellence and his enormous energy," Sonnenschein said. "In two years as Argonne's chief executive, he has invigorated the laboratory, setting the stage for outstanding research for years to come. I am grateful for his excellent service, and I look forward to welcoming him as a colleague here in our research and teaching."

During a 33-year career at IBM before he joined Argonne in 1996, Eastman pursued research in physics as an IBM Fellow and held many senior research-and-development management positions in that corporation.