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Contacts: Pete Genzer, (631) 344-3174 or Mona S. Rowe, (631) 344-5056

The following is an announcement from Brookhaven Science Associates, the company which manages Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Sam Aronson Named Director of Brookhaven National Lab

August 18, 2006

Samuel Aronson (click image to download hi-res version).

UPTON, NY - The Board of Directors of Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) announced today that Interim Laboratory Director Dr. Samuel Aronson has been named as the new Director of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). BSA manages BNL for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). DOE also approved Dr. Aronson's candidacy.

Aronson, a physicist, has served as Brookhaven Lab's Interim Director since former Director Praveen Chaudhari stepped down in April 2006. Today's announcement was made following a nationwide search and interview process conducted by a committee appointed by the BSA Board.

"We knew Dr. Aronson was a highly respected scientist and administrator when we selected him as Interim Director, and the BSA Board has been very impressed by what he has accomplished in his short tenure," said Shirley Strum Kenny, Chair of the BSA Board and President of Stony Brook University. "We had many talented applicants for the job, but Sam was the outstanding choice. He has gained the respect of everyone he has worked with, and the Board is confident that he will continue to emphasize our key commitments - excellence in science, Laboratory operations, and community service."

"We are delighted to have Dr. Aronson serve as the new Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory," said DOE Undersecretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach. "His scientific expertise and natural leadership abilities will serve him well in this new role. This is a great choice for the Laboratory, the local and scientific communities, and the nation."

Prior to becoming Interim Director, Aronson served as Brookhaven's Associate Laboratory Director for High Energy & Nuclear Physics, managing the Laboratory's largest directorate and overseeing the operation of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Physics Department. He now takes the helm of a multi-program national laboratory with 2,600 employees, more than 4,000 facility users, and an annual budget of $490 million.

"In my short time as interim director, I have had a wonderful opportunity to become better acquainted with the broad range of science at Brookhaven Lab," said Aronson. "The breadth and depth of our research, and the energy and expertise of those who conduct and support it, position us well to explore the compelling scientific questions of the 21st century.

"I am grateful to the Brookhaven Science Associates Board for entrusting me with the opportunity to continue leading this great institution. Our future is bright, and our direction is sound."

Aronson earned an A.B. in physics from Columbia University in 1964, and a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1968. From 1968 to 1972, he worked at the University of Chicago's Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies as a research associate. He then moved to the University of Wisconsin, where he was a faculty member until 1977.

Aronson joined Brookhaven Lab's Accelerator Department in 1978 as an associate physicist, and was named physicist in 1979. He moved to the Physics Department in 1982, was appointed associate chair of the department in 1987, and promoted to deputy chair in 1988. In 1991, Aronson relinquished this position and, as a senior physicist, served as the head of the PHENIX detector project during the construction of RHIC, a challenge he successfully completed before he became chair of Physics in 2001. Aronson was appointed as Brookhaven's Associate Laboratory Director for High Energy & Nuclear Physics in 2005. Aronson is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Note to local editors: Samuel Aronson is a native of Long Island and a resident of Poquott, New York.

Number: 06-X19  |  BNL Media & Communications Office

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.

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