Lab Leadership

Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on July 1, 2018, and a Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences on September 1, 2018. Most recently president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom since 2016, Cowley previously was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

Craig R. Ferguson joined PPPL in 2019 as deputy director for operations and chief operating officer. He has more than 25 years of experience in managing aspects of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facilities including at SLAC and Jefferson Lab. He most recently was vice president for mission assurance at Longenecker & Associates, a consulting firm that works with the DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration labs and facilities.

As Chief Financial Officer of PPPL, Kristen Fischer leads the Laboratory's Business Operations Department, with responsibility for long-term financial strategy development, business-process improvement and operational efficiencies, innovative collaborations, business operations, risk mitigation, contract and compliance related matters, and the acquisition of all goods and services required by the Laboratory. She earned a B.A. in psychology at Rutgers University, and an M.B.A. in at Georgian Court University (Delta Mu Delta).