Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Links
Visit the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Home Page
Online Resource: Lawrence Berkeley History
Online Resource: "Lawrence and His Laboratory" Exhibit
Online Resource: "Lawrence and the Cyclotron" Exhibit
ACAP Topic Guide: "Accelerators: 1945–1960"
Also see the Berkeley Physics Department ACAP Page
Contents
Notes
This laboratory was founded in 1931 by University of California physics professor Ernest Lawrence. Called the Radiation Laboratory, it served as a venue for the development of cyclotron particle accelerators and associated research. An early model of a large-scale physics research project, the laboratory grew into a semi-autonomous entity at the Berkeley campus.
During World War II, the laboratory became a major site of research for the Manhattan Project. Lawrence emerged from the war an influential figure in the world of federally-supported research. When the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in 1947, it became the primary patron of the Radiation Laboratory, and the laboratory was often counted a part of the AEC's system of national laboratories. See Peter Westwick, The National Labs: Science in an American System, 1947-1974 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003).
In ACAP, Radiation Laboratory staff continue to be counted as members of the Berkeley physics department until Lawrence's death in 1958. However, that historical divide should be considered more-or-less arbitrary. Berkeley physics professors, post-docs, and students remained heavily involved in the work of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and information on this page should be cross-referenced with the ACAP page for that department.
In 1959, the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory was renamed the Ernest O. Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (LRL). In 1970 it was renamed the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). In 1995, the laboratory was officially designated a "national" laboratory, and the "Ernest O." portion of the name was subsequently officially dropped from the name. These name changes are not always reflected in ACAP biographical entries.
On the laboratory's history, see especially J. L. Heilbron and Robert W. Seidel, Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989).
Laboratory Directors
- 1931–1958: Ernest Lawrence
- 1958–1973: Edwin McMillan
- 1973–1980: Andrew Sessler
- 1980–1989: David Shirley
- 1989–2004: Charles Shank
- 2004–2009: Steven Chu
- 2009–present: Paul Alivisatos
Staff
- 1955–1994: Arthur Rosenfeld
- 1955–1957: Research Associate
- 1957–1964: Researcher
- 1964–1975: Director, Particle Data Group
- 1974–1986: Leader, Energy-Efficient Buildings Research Program
- 1986–1994: Director, Center for Building Science
- 1956–1960: Herbert Steiner, Research Physicist
- 1956–1967: Harold Furth, Physicist
- 1957–present: Frank Stephens
- 1957–1995: Scientist to Senior Scientist
- 1995–present: Distinguished Scientist
- 1958–1959: David Thouless, Physicist
- 1958–1973: Edwin McMillan, Director
- 1958–present: Richard Diamond
- 1958–1991: Member, Senior Staff
- 1991–present: Senior Scientist Emeritus
- 1959–1960: Steven Weinberg, Research Associate
- 1959–1964: Hermann Grunder
- 1959–1962: Bevatron Mechanical Engineer, Accelerator & Fusion Research Divison
- 1962–1964: Group Leader, 88 Inch Cyclotron
- 1960–present: George Trilling
- 1960–present: Staff Member
- 1984–1987: Director, Physics Division
- 1961–1962: Richard Taylor, Physicist
- 1961–1966: Stanley Wojcicki
- 1961–1964: Physicist
- 1965–1966: Physicist
- 1961–present: Andrew Sessler
- 1961–1973: Theoretical Physicist
- 1973–1980: Director
- 1980–1994: Theoretical Physicist
- 1994–2001: Distinguished Senior Scientist
- 2001–2002: Distinguished Guest Scientist
- 2002–present: Distinguished Scientist Emeritus and Director Emeritus
- 1965–present: Marvin Cohen, Senior Scientist
- 1966–present: Arthur Poskanzer
- 1966–1969: Staff Scientist
- 1969–1995: Staff Senior Scientist
- 1995–2001: Distinguished Senior Scientist
- 2001–present: Distinguished Senior Scientist Emeritus
- 1967–1970: John C. Hardy
- 1967–1969: Miller Fellow
- 1969–1970: Physicist
- 1967–1979: Hermann Grunder
- 1967–1973: Staff Scientist, Accelerator Division, Bevatron Development Group
- 1973–1979: Senior Staff Scientist, Accelerator Division, Group Leader, Super HILAC-Bevatron & Bevalac Operation & Development
- 1969–1975: John Clauser, Postdoctoral Research Associate
- 1969–2010: John Clarke, Senior Faculty Scientist, Materials Sciences Division
- 1970–1973: J. David Bowman, Research Fellow in Nuclear Chemistry
- 1972–2005: Piermaria Oddone
- 1972–1976: Physicist, Physics Division
- 1976–1978: Staff Scientist, Physics Division
- 1978–1987: Senior Staff Scientist, Physics Division
- 1987–1991: Director, Physics Division
- 1989–2005: Deputy Director
- 1973–present: David Nygren
- 1973–1975: Division Fellow
- 1975–2000: Senior Physicist
- 2000–present: Distinguished Scientist
- 1975–1982: Shoji Nagamiya, Staff Scientist
- 1975–1989: David Shirley
- 1975–1980: Associate Laboratory Director and Head, Materials and Molecular Research Division
- 1980–1989: Director
- 1978–1981: David Ceperley, Staff Scientist, National Resource for Computation in Chemistry
- 1980–1981: Philip Bucksbaum, Research Fellow
- 1982–present: Claude Lyneis
- 1982–1989: Staff Scientist, Director of Opperations and Development, 88-inch Cylotron
- 1989–2009: Senior Physicist and Program Head, 88-inch Cyclotron
- 2008–2011: Senior Physicist and Nuclear Science Deputy Director
- 2009–present: Senior Physicist and Group Leader, ECR Accelerator Physics
- 1983–1985: Hermann Grunder, Deputy Director, General Science
- 1983–1987: Persis Drell, Postdoctoral Research Associate
- 1983–1988: Saul Perlmutter
- 1983–1986: Research Assistant in Astrophysics
- 1987–1988: Postdoctoral Researcher
- 1988–1991: Isadore Perlman, Researcher
- 1989–1990: Lisa Randall, Postdoctoral Fellow
- 1989–2004: Charles Shank, Director
- 1994–2006: Neville Smith, Scientific Director, Advanced Light Source
- 1994–present: Saul Perlmutter
- 1994–1999: Staff Scientist and Group Leader
- 1999–present: Senior Scientist and Group Leader
- 1997–present: David Shirley, Emeritus Director
- 2002–present: A. Paul Alivisatos
- 2002–2008: Director, Materials Sciences Division
- 2005–2008: Associate Director for Physical Sciences
- 2008–2009: Deputy Director
- 2009–present: Director
- 2004–2009: Steven Chu, Director
- 2004–present: Roger Falcone
- 2004–2006: Physicist
- 2006–present: Director, Advanced Light Source Division
- 2009–present: Associate Laboratory Director for Photon Sciences
