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Lia Merminga becomes first woman to head Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

06 Apr 2022
Lia Merminga portrait
Taking the helm: Lia Merminga will become the seventh director of Fermilab when she takes up the position on 18 April. (Courtesy: Allan Johnson, Fermilab)

The particle physicist Lia Merminga has been appointed the first female director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory based in Batavia, Illinois. She will become the seventh director of the US particle-physics lab and succeeds Nigel Lockyer, who has headed Fermilab since 2013. Merminga will begin her term on 18 April.

Born in Greece, Merminga earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Athens in 1983 and then began a PhD in physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As part of her PhD, Merminga working on the Tevatron at Fermilab as part of the lab’s new graduate progamme in accelerator physics.

After completing her PhD in 1987, Merminga went on to manage projects at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia, Canada’s TRIUMF accelerator, as well as the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. She also chaired the Fermilab Accelerator Advisory Committee for the influential Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel “P5” panel report, which was released in 2014 and set the future pathway for US particle physics.

Merminga returned to Fermilab in 2018 as project director of the lab’s PIP-II superconducting accelerator – a major upgrade to the lab’s accelerator complex. When complete in 2028, it will produce the world’s most intense beam of high-energy neutrinos for Fermilab’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, which involves sending the particles some 1300 km to a detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota.

‘Visionary leader’

The search committee that unanimously recommended Merminga’s candidacy emphasized her commitment to international collaboration. “Lia has been instrumental in developing strong scientific collaborations with research institutions across America and throughout the world in her past positions,” says Eric Barron of the Universities Research Association, which manages Fermilab for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. “We look forward to a continued partnership as she assumes the role of laboratory director.”

Lia is an accomplished accelerator physicist, an amazing project director and a visionary leader

Jill Hruby

That view is backed by Jill Hruby, director of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration and a former director of Sandia National Laboratories. “Lia is an accomplished accelerator physicist, an amazing project director and a visionary leader,” Hruby told Physics World. “She will bring new insights and perspective to the DOE laboratory complex. I am excited about having her as one of our laboratory directors and look forward to working with her.”

Merminga herself is excited about the future at Fermilab, which over a decade ago switched its focus towards neutrino physics following the closure of the Tevatron. “Fermilab has given me a very rewarding career,” she says. “My goal as Fermilab director is to successfully complete the profound and compelling vision [of PIP-II and related projects] while continuing to deliver groundbreaking science and technology innovation and realize the lab’s full potential in workforce development and diversity, lab operations, and in regional, national and international partnerships.”

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