The individuals who serve at the associate laboratory director level at SLAC are an extraordinarily dedicated group. For the past two years, Steve Kahn has led the Particle Physics and Astrophysics Directorate through some of the most turbulent years at the laboratory. Dale Knutson has led the Linac Coherent Light Source Directorate for the last year, and brought additional leadership to the laboratory that is delivering success not only in LCLS, but also in the LCLS Ultrafast Science Instruments and other projects at the lab.
Effective June 1, David MacFarlane has taken over from Steve as the PPA ALD. David has been at SLAC for three and a half years. We recruited him from UCSD and he has held a series of leadership positions at SLAC. David was BaBar spokesperson from 2004–2006; he was head of Experimental Particle Physics in PPA when I was PPA director, and additionally deputy director of PPA under Steve Kahn. He has recently also been taking a leading role in developing the ATLAS effort for PPA.
Effective July 1, Jo Stohr will take over from Dale Knutson as the LCLS ALD. Jo came to SLAC in 2000 and has been director of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource since 2005. When I became lab director, I asked Jo to serve as the ALD for SSRL. Jo has been co-leading the joint light source efforts with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the past year. He now will bring his experience and broad expertise in light source science to LCLS. I am very grateful that Piero Pianetta has agreed to be the acting ALD for SSRL effective July 1. We will start an international search immediately to find a permanent SSRL ALD.
Steve Kahn and Dale Knutson will not have much time to rest. Steve will be going back to a full time leadership role in the LSST. I have asked Dale to help with the formation of a new Accelerator Directorate which we hope to bring up in mid-summer. We are still discussing the structure and content of the Accelerator Directorate, but I feel strongly that as one of three "National Accelerator Laboratories" in the U.S. (the others are Fermi and Thomas Jefferson), I want to have accelerators more visible and more strongly represented in the laboratory organization.
Please join me in thanking Steve, Dale, David, Jo and Piero for their dedication to the laboratory. All of these individuals are taking on major responsibilities for the health of the laboratory as a whole. Their dedication is inspiring for all of us.
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