[News-releases] TRIUMF's Director Nigel S. Lockyer Tapped to Head Major U.S. Particle-Physics Laboratory

[Tim Meyer]

News Release | For Immediate Release | Thursday, June 20, 2013, 10:00 am PDT

TRIUMF’S DIRECTOR NIGEL S. LOCKYER TAPPED TO HEAD MAJOR U.S.
PARTICLE-PHYSICS LABORATORY 

(Vancouver, BC) --- In his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Directors of
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, University of Chicago President Robert J.
Zimmer today announced that TRIUMF’s director Nigel S. Lockyer has been
selected to become the next director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, located outside Chicago.  Lockyer is
expected to complete his work at TRIUMF this summer and begin at Fermilab in
the autumn. 

Paul Young, Chair of TRIUMF’s Board of Management and Vice President of
Research and Innovation at the University of Toronto said, “Nigel was
selected from a truly outstanding set of international candidates for this
challenging and important position.  Although it will be a short-term loss,
this development is a clear recognition of Nigel’s vision and passion for
science and the international leadership taken by TRIUMF and Canada in
subatomic physics.  On behalf of the entire TRIUMF Board, we wish Nigel,
TRIUMF, and Fermilab every success in the future.”  

Lockyer set TRIUMF upon a new course when he arrived six years ago, focusing
the team on “Advancing isotopes for science and medicine.”  Based on
TRIUMF’s existing infrastructure and talent, this initiative ranged from
expanding the nuclear-medicine program so that it is now playing a leading
role in resolving the medical-isotope crisis to the formulation and funding
of a new flagship facility called ARIEL that will double TRIUMF’s
capabilities for producing exotic isotopes used in science and for
developing tomorrow’s medical isotopes.  At the heart of ARIEL is a
next-generation electron accelerator using modern superconducting
radio-frequency technology. 

Commenting on Nigel’s leadership of TRIUMF, Paul Young added, “One look at
TRIUMF’s current trajectory and you can see that this is a man of great
ambition and talent.  Working with the Board and a great team at the lab, he
propelled TRIUMF to new heights.  We have all been fortunate at TRIUMF to
have Nigel as a colleague and leader.”

Reflecting on his time at TRIUMF and the upcoming transition to Fermilab,
Nigel Lockyer said, “Knowing that TRIUMF is in good hands with a superb
leadership team and seeing its growing string of accomplishments has helped
make this decision a tiny bit easier.  The laboratory’s future is secure and
TRIUMF knows exactly what it is doing.  I am proud to have contributed to
TRIUMF’s successes and it is my hope to ignite the same energy and
enthusiasm in the U.S. by heading the team at Fermilab.”  He added, “I also
expect to foster a new level of partnership between the U.S. and Canada in
these key areas of science and technology.” 

“Nigel has had a profound impact on TRIUMF,” said David B. MacFarlane, chair
of the National Research Council’s Advisory Committee on TRIUMF and
Associate Laboratory Director at the U.S. SLAC National Accelerator
Laboratory.  “He articulated an ambitious new vision for the laboratory and
energetically set it upon a path toward an exciting world-class program in
rare-isotope beams and subatomic-physics research.  When ARIEL comes online,
the lab will be fulfilling the vision that Nigel and his team boldly
initiated.”  David MacFarlane added, “The TRIUMF community will certainly
miss his warmth, his insatiable scientific curiosity, his creativity, and
his faith in the laboratory and its entire staff.  However, I fully expect
these same characteristics will serve Nigel well in his new leadership role
as Fermilab director.”

As per standard practice, the TRIUMF Board of Management will announce plans
and timelines for the international search process and interim leadership
within the next few weeks. 

For more about Fermilab and Lockyer’s appointment, please see URL
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/2013/Lockyer-Named-Fermilab
-Director-20130620.html.  

-30-

***********************************************************************
Timothy I. Meyer, Ph.D.
Head, Strategic Planning & Communications
TRIUMF -- Accelerating Science for Canada | 
    Un accélérateur de la démarche scientifique canadienne
4004 Wesbrook Mall | Vancouver, BC  V6T 2A3 | CANADA
Tel: 604.222.7674
Fax: 604.222.3791
Mobile (w/call fwd): 604.235.1925 | 650.464.8955 (U.S.)
E-mail: tmeyer at triumf.ca
WWW: http://www.triumf.ca 
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