Dedicated to Greatness

"It is a great day to be alive in the Commonwealth." That is what Dana Hamel, SURA Vice President and Chancellor Emeritus of the Virginia Community College System, said on May 24, 1996. It certainly was a great day because CEBAF was officially dedicated and renamed the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. As the York River Band played and Lisa Spruill of the Accelerator division sang, Jefferson Lab staff, users, family members, business leaders, and politicians gathered under a tent in the CEBAF Center parking lot to celebrate a new era of experimentation.

Guest speakers spoke of the enormous determination and success that went into making Jefferson Lab a reality. James McCarthy was recognized for his vision of creating an accelerator, and then turning that vision into a concrete proposal. His proposal was chosen because of its ability to be upgraded to higher energies in the future and because its conservative design offered the most assurance that the machine would work.

Martin Perl, 1995 Nobel Laureate for Physics, challenged experimenters to make new discoveries and not to be discouraged by the hardness of nature. "This lab is a new tool for investigating nature. The experimentation done here is what leads to knowledge. Even experiments that fail give you new ideas and information," said Perl.

Jefferson Lab Director, Hemann Grunder, received a standing ovation from the crowd upon being introduced. Grunder thanked everyone who contributed to making the lab a success, and acknowledged the families who endured "late evenings, cancelled vacations, and missed ballgames." Grunder said the lab was built for the best minds in the world, and the success that Jefferson Lab has witnessed is "a result of partnerships that complement and promote science." Grunder concluded his speech by pledging himself to this partnership and by inviting everyone to do the same.

Keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary delivered an inspirational message stressing the importance of the discoveries being made at Jefferson Lab and the necessity to share knowledge with the public. "The general public feels pride in this facility but they are not sure why," said O'Leary. "The leap of faith the public must take is, 'Having gained knowledge, what value is it?'" O'Leary applauded Jefferson Lab's educational outreach and the influence it has had on the lives of local students. She called a few of them on stage to help her unveil the new name and logo.

Secretary O'Leary was joined on stage by local, state, and federal politicians who were all instrumental in the development of Jefferson Lab. Master of Ceremonies Dennis Barnes, President of SURA, acknowledged Senators Charles Robb and John Warner for their support of Jefferson Lab in Congress. Representatives Herb Bateman and Bobby Scott were thanked for their efforts which brought the lab to Newport News. The city's Vice Mayor, Joe Frank, was acknowledged for his support of the lab on the local government level.

The dedication of CEBAF and its name change to Jefferson Lab marks the end of construction and the beginning of experimentation. "The dedication signifies the official opening of the lab as a scientific facility. Before, we were a construction project. Now we are an operating scientific facility," said Nathan Isgur, Jefferson Lab Theory Group Leader. Throughout the day, people congratulated each other on accomplishing something that has never been done before-building a complex machine that probes the nucleus of the atom using a continuous stream of electrons.

Rebecca James, Director's Office Intern

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