Associate Laboratory Director for Strategic and Supporting Research Tom Meyer announced Lisowski's appointment as division director.
Meyer said that LANSCE is important to the Laboratory, the national defense community and the national and international science user communities. Meyer added, "We are very pleased to have Paul take the helm at LANSCE. With his strong leadership background and technical expertise, I'm confident that LANSCE will more than meet the expectations of its diverse user communities."
LANSCE comprises a high-power 800-million-electron-volt proton linear accelerator, a Proton Storage Ring, production targets at the Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center and the Weapons Neutron Research facility, and a variety of associated experimental areas and spectrometers. LANSCE produces intense beams of pulsed neutrons at both the Lujan Center and the Weapons Neutron Research Facility, which provide the Laboratory and U.S. scientific community with the capability to perform experiments that support both defense and civilian research.
Laboratory Director John Browne said, "I've known Paul for almost 30 years and I have great confidence in his ability as a leader. He brings a high level of energy and focus to this new position, and a true love for science. Most importantly, though, Paul has proven time and time again that he can successfully manage large and complex programs. His previous successes will help him greatly as he tackles the new challenges at LANSCE."
In his more than 23 years at Los Alamos, Lisowski has served in a broad range of technical and management positions. Since 1990, he has led the Neutron and Nuclear Science Group, served as project leader and project director for the highly successful National Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) Project and most recently served as project director for the Laboratory's Advanced Hydrotest Facility.
Meyer said that one of the primary reasons Lisowski was chosen for the job was because of his successful project management experience running the national APT Project. A 1999 Congressionally mandated review lauded the APT project: "The APT approach to management structure and team development, specifically the full integration of DOE and contractor personnel at each echelon and each project site, should be used as a positive example by DOE and perhaps other government agencies, of how a complex and nationally important project can be well organized and managed."
"I'm very excited about getting started at LANSCE," Lisowski said. "I have a distinct vision of how to work with the LANSCE staff to make the facility even more valuable to our programmatic needs and more reliable for the user community. I'll be working closely with the researchers and managers at LANSCE to make this vision a reality."
Lisowski will have responsibility for ensuring that LANSCE continues to fulfill its important obligations to the Laboratory's Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship efforts and contributes to basic science through the continued, successful operation of the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center. Taken together, LANSCE's many features allow for important synergies between different disciplines and encourage the flow of ideas between academic, industrial and defense communities.
LANSCE is currently not in operation in order to perform regularly scheduled maintenance, facility upgrades and installation of a new beam line to produce medical radioisotopes.
Lisowski has a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics from the University of Virginia and the University of Mississippi, respectively, and a doctorate in Nuclear Physics from Duke University. Among many honors, he has been named to the Sigma Xi Research Society of America and received the APT Management Team Major Systems Award and the Department of Energy Certificate of Achievement for service to the APT Source Selection Board. He also received an Award of Excellence from the Office of Military Applications.
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 the Washington Division of URS 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.