Jon C. Weisheit is the new leader of the Lab's Applied Theoretical and Computational Physics Division, which specializes in nuclear-weapons physics, science and related national security issues.
Weisheit will report to Stephen M. Younger, Los Alamos' associate laboratory director for nuclear weapons, who made the announcement.
"Jon Weisheit brings with him nearly three decades of brilliant scientific achievement in the areas of atomic and plasma physics, and astrophysics," Younger said. "I am tremendously pleased to be able to draw someone of Jon's technical caliber to what is one of the most important jobs at Los Alamos."
Weisheit is no stranger to Los Alamos, having served as chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Lab's Applied Theoretical and Computational Physics Division since 1996 and as a member of that board since 1989. The committee is comprised of scientists from outside the Laboratory who advise on weapons-physics issues.
"I am excited to be selected to this position, and I thank Steve Younger and Los Alamos Director John Browne for having confidence in my abilities," said Weisheit. "I look forward to working with some of the finest scientists in the world."
Weisheit has been at Rice University since 1988, serving as a professor of space physics and astronomy, and as chairman and vice chairman of that department. He previously served as a research scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory.
He also has served as a research fellow at Harvard University, and as a visiting scientist at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany; and at the University of California's Berkeley, Davis and Santa Barbara campuses.
Weisheit, who has authored or co-authored nearly 70 scientific papers, has been a fellow of the American Physical Society since 1981.
He has a doctorate in physics and master's degree in space science from Rice University, and a bachelor's in physics from the University of Texas, El Paso.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.