Steve Dierker

Associate Laboratory Director for Light Sources, NSLS-II Project Director

Steven Dierker, a forefront scientist and administrator in synchrotron light research, is the Associate Laboratory Director for the Light Sources Directorate at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dierker, was previously Chair of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) Department.

In December of 2005, Dierker was also named Project Director of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) Project. If constructed, NSLS-II will meet critical scientific challenges of the future, provide state-of-the-art technology for researchand play a pivotal role in fostering economic growth in the northeastern United States.

The project represents the next major step in Brookhaven’s long history of building and operating world-class scientific facilities and is expected to have enormous impact in the life sciences, materials and chemical sciences, nanoscience, geoscience, environmental science, and other areas. Advanced light source capabilities would also complement the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven.

Biographical Information

After earning B.S. degrees in both physics and electrical engineering in 1977 from Washington University, Dierker earned both an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1978 and 1983, respectively. In 1983, he joined the Semiconductor and Chemical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories (now Lucent Technologies), and, in 1990, he joined the University of Michigan, where he was Professor of Physics and Applied Physics. He joined Brookhaven in May 2001 to become Chair of the NSLS.

Since 1992, Dierker has been a member of the NSLS Users Group, and he performed initial experiments at the NSLS to develop a novel synchrotron technique called x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, which uses coherent, or highly ordered, synchrotron beams to study colloidal systems, or particles dispersed in a solid, liquid or gaseous medium, and polymers.

Since 1996, Dierker has been a member of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) Users Organization at Argonne National Laboratory, and he chaired that organization from 1998-2000. He also helped to plan the construction, design and operation of beam lines at the APS, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.

Last Modified: January 31, 2008

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

Privacy and Security Notice  | Contact Web Services for help