Jefferson Lab in the News
New Director Named to Lead U.S. Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab
Washington, DC – Jefferson Science Associates, LLC today announced that Hugh Montgomery will
become the new Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility in Newport News, Virginia. Currently the Associate Director for Research at DOE’s Fermi
National Accelerator Laboratory, Montgomery will take charge of Jefferson Lab on September 2.
“Hugh Montgomery is a superb choice for the Laboratory,” said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary
for Science at DOE. “As Director, he will lead a world class center that can enable scientists to
probe the innermost secrets of the atomic nucleus. I am confident that under Dr. Montgomery,
Jefferson Lab will continue its outstanding scientific leadership.”
In his new role, Montgomery also will serve as President of Jefferson Science Associates, a joint
venture between the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) and CSC Applied
Technologies, that manages and operates Jefferson Lab for DOE. “Jefferson Lab and DOE are fortunate
to have Dr. Montgomery coming on board as the new director,” said John T. Casteen, President of the
University of Virginia and Chair of the JSA Board of Directors. “He is both a distinguished
scientist and an experienced leader and manager within the laboratory system.”
With a Ph.D. in Physics from Manchester University in England, Montgomery has an extensive background
in both nuclear and particle physics. His work at Fermilab focuses on particle physics, which seeks
to understand the fundamental components of our universe and how they interact. Montgomery was
involved with muon scattering experiments at CERN in Geneva and Fermilab, and in the DZero Experiment
on the Fermilab Tevatron Collider at the time of the observation of the top quark. In his role as
Associate Director, he oversees the particle physics and particle astrophysics research programs at
the laboratory. He has served in his current position since 2002.
“After almost twenty five years at Fermilab, this move certainly represents a major change in my
life,” said Montgomery. “The new position will be an enormous challenge for me but also an enormous
opportunity to which I am looking forward. The provision of research facilities for a broad
international community of physicists is something at which both Fermilab and Jefferson Lab excel.”
Montgomery added, “I hope I prove worthy of the great team at Jefferson.”
Montgomery replaces Christoph Leemann, who came to Jefferson Lab from DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab
in 1985 and who has been director since 2000. Leemann announced his decision to step down from the
directorship in March 2007. Prior to that, he was instrumental in the design, technology choice,
and construction of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) – as Jefferson Lab was
originally known. Leemann, who has continued to serve throughout the search process, will retain the
title of Director-Emeritus.
The JSA Board of Directors appointed an internationally representative search committee that convened
six weeks after Leemann’s announcement. The 13-member committee undertook extensive outreach to
solicit input, advice and nominations from international scientific leaders. It interviewed candidates
and presented a unanimous recommendation to the JSA Board and DOE to approve the appointment of
Montgomery as the Lab’s third director.
“We are all delighted that Hugh Montgomery has agreed to take on the leadership of Jefferson
Laboratory at this critical time in its history,” said Thomas Appelquist, Professor of Physics at
Yale University and JSA Board member, who chaired the search committee.
SURA was awarded the original contract to build the lab in 1984 and operated it exclusively until
2006. DOE released a request for proposal to recompete the contract for the 700-employee facility
in December 2005, and awarded the new contract to JSA, LLC in April 2006. Jefferson Lab is a
renowned research facility with more than 2,000 international users . Nearly one-third of the
Ph.D.’s awarded in nuclear physics in the U.S. result from research done at Jefferson Lab, and
more than 90 new faculty positions in the nuclear physics discipline have been added to
universities across the south since SURA brought the Lab to the region.
For more information contact:
Greg D. Kubiak
Chief Communications Officer, SURA
202-408-2412
kubiak@sura.org
The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is a consortium of over 60
leading research institutions in the southern United States and the District of Columbia
established in 1980 as a non-stock, nonprofit corporation. SURA serves as an entity through
which colleges, universities, and other organizations may cooperate with one another, and
with government and industry in acquiring, developing, and using laboratories and other research
facilities and in furthering knowledge and the application of that knowledge in the physical,
biological, and other natural sciences and engineering. For more information, visit
www.sura.org.
Founded in 1959, Computer Sciences Corporation is a leading global information technology
(IT) services company. CSC's mission is to provide customers in industry and government with
solutions crafted to meet their specific challenges and enable them to profit from the advanced
use of technology. With approximately 80,000 employees supporting continuing operations, CSC
provides innovative solutions for customers around the world by applying leading technologies
and CSC's own advanced capabilities. These include systems design and integration; IT and
business process outsourcing; applications software development; Web and application hosting;
and management consulting. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., CSC reported revenue of $14.9
billion for the 12 months ended Dec. 30, 2007. For more information, visit the company's Web
site at www.csc.com.