Interactions News Wire #65-05
10 August 2005 http://www.interactions.org
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Source: CCLRC
Content: Press Release
Date Issued: 10 August 2005
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Wednesday 10 August 2005                                                                          NR 25/05

New Director for Particle Physics

Dr John Womersley will join the CCLRC as Director of Particle Physics. Dr Womersley, who will start work on 1 October and is based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, was previously working at Fermilab in the USA.  For the last year he has been in Washington as Scientific Adviser to the Associate Director of High Energy Physics in the Department of Energy.  His new post gives him responsibility for the particle physics research programme; he will also advise the CCLRC on its future particle physics strategy.

Dr Womersley is already well known to many of the UK’s particle physics community. His research has included design and construction of high energy physics detectors, computing and software, and data analysis. He has also been involved in communicating science to the general public. Dr Womersley said, "I am very excited about taking up this new role. It's a chance for me to connect with colleagues both old and new in the UK. The next few years will be a fascinating time for particle physics and there are plenty of challenges ahead. We at CCLRC have a great foundation to face these challenges - our skills and facilities are first class, and so are our people."

Professor John Wood, Chief Executive Officer of the CCLRC, said, "John has a tremendous reputation within the particle physics field. We are delighted to have him on the team at this key time when the UK’s role in the next generation of particle physics experiments needs real vision and leadership."


Notes for Editors

1. The Council for the Central Laboratory for the Research Council is one of eight UK research councils and is one of Europe's largest multidisciplinary research organisation supporting scientists and engineers across the world. It operates world-class large-scale research facilities, provides strategic advice to the government on their development and manages international research projects in support of a broad cross-section of the UK research community.

2. A summary of Dr Womersley’s career is given below:
He was born in Torquay, Devon and attended Cambridge University.  He received his D.Phil. from Oxford in 1986, having worked at CERN. He then moved to the United States working for the University of Florida, Florida State University, and then the Superconducting Supercollider in Texas. He later moved to Fermilab in Illinois, and in 1999 became co-spokesperson of the D-Zero experiment. D-Zero is one of the two large detectors studying proton-antiproton collisions in Fermilab's Tevatron collider. Before taking up his appointment with the CCLRC, he spent a year in Washington with the Office of High Energy Physics within the Department of Energy working on the future particle physics programme.

3. Professor Ken Peach stepped down as Director of Particle Physics in order to take up his new post as Director of the John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science, jointly hosted by Oxford University and Royal Holloway University of London. He will remain part-time Director of e-Science until a replacement is found.

Photo available on request.
 
Natalie Bealing MCIPR
RAL Public Relations Officer
CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX
Tel: 01235 445484 Email: press@cclrc.ac.uk