Newport News, Va. - Andrew Hutton has been appointed as the new Associate Director of the Accelerator Division of the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (DOE's Jefferson Lab). Jefferson Lab's accelerator provides the world's most precise electron beam for exploring the fundamental nature of matter.
As head of the Accelerator Division, Hutton will supervise the division's primary contribution to the Lab's main mission of nuclear physics research by operating and maintaining the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). Hutton will also oversee the Center for the Advanced Studies of Accelerators (CASA) and the Institute for Superconducting Radio Frequency Science and Technology (ISRFST).
Hutton has more than 25 years of international experience in the design, construction, commissioning and operation of large particle accelerators as forefront research tools in particle and nuclear physics. He also has a wide range of management experience within the field, from defining facilities to meet researchers' needs, to communicating with funding-agency and decision-makers, to assembling and leading project teams.
Arriving at Jefferson Lab in 1992, Hutton led the commissioning of CEBAF, the world's first large-scale superconducting radiofrequency accelerator. Following commissioning, he became director of operations, managing round-the-clock work involving 120 accelerator physicists, engineers, operators, programmers, and technicians, with an annual budget of up to $12 million.
Prior to 1992, Hutton shared responsibility for commissioning and operation of the world's first linear collider, the Stanford Linear Collider, and was involved in the initial design of and leadership for the PEP-II B-Factory, both at the DOE's Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). He also worked in Switzerland at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics CERN and at other laboratories in Italy and the UK.
Hutton holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in natural sciences from Cambridge University, UK, and a Ph.D. in physics from London University, UK. He is fluent in English, French and Italian and holds dual American and British citizenships. In addition, Hutton heads advisory committees for accelerator laboratories in Japan and Italy, and he continues to serve on a wide variety of accelerator-related professional panels on three continents.
"I am pleased to announce Dr. Andrew Hutton as the next Associate Director of Accelerators at Jefferson Lab. Andrew's expertise, dedication, and international stature make him uniquely qualified to lead Jefferson Lab's Accelerator Division," says Jefferson Lab Director Christoph Leemann. "Andrew combines the continuity of an in-house successor with long-standing expertise and accomplishments in the critical subject areas, and most importantly he has a keen sense for and demonstrated commitment to the priorities of the Laboratory and the expectations of the Department of Energy and the User community."
Hutton succeeds Prof. Swapan Chattopadhyay, who is slated to take the position of the inaugural Director of the United Kingdom's Cockcroft Institute this spring.