Former Stony Brook Professor Named Director of Renowned Ames Laboratory

STONY BROOK , NY - Alexander King, former professor of Stony Brook's Material Science and Engineering Department has been named the new director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory.

Ames Laboratory is a government-owned, contractor-operated research facility that is run by Iowa State University (ISU). Established in the 1940s, research conducted in the Lab includes energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup and restoration.

"We are delighted to have Dr. King serve as the new director of Ames Laboratory," said U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach. "His distinguished scientific achievements and proven organizational leadership will serve him well in this new role. This is a great choice for the laboratory, the scientific community, and the nation."

King was an assistant professor, associate professor and then professor at Stony Brook from 1981 to 1999. He also served as associate, acting and then vice provost at the university from 1987 to 1992. Prior to his appointment at Stony Brook, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Metallurgy and Science of Materials at the University of Oxford, England (1979). King became a research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1979 to 1981, and a professor and head of the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University from 1999.

King obtained his bachelor's in degree in physical metallurgy from the University of Sheffield, England in 1975; and a doctorate in metallurgy and the science of materials from the University of Oxford in 1979. He has edited four technical books, published over 108 journal articles and 145 refereed conference proceedings, book chapters, extended abstracts, book reviews and other contributions. He is a fellow of both the American Society of Materials and the Institute of Materials (UK) and a member of numerous committees for national and international symposia.

The search for the new Ames Laboratory Director started with of over 100 nominees, reduced to 5 finalists who underwent public and private interviews with a 14-member search committee. Other finalists considered for the position included: Dr. Bruce N. Harmon, Deputy Director of the Ames Laboratory and Distinguished Professor of Physics, Iowa State University; Dr. Alex Lacerda, Director, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory-Pulsed Field Facility (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and Associate Director, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Los Alamos, Florida State University and University of Florida); Dr. Arthur Ramirez, Director, Device Physics Research Division, Bell Labs, Alcatel Lucent and Adjunct Professor, Applied Physics & Applied Mathematics, Columbia University; and Dr. Wendy R. Cieslak, Deputy to the Vice President for Science and Engineering, Sandia National Laboratory.

Effective January 1, King will take over from Tom Barton, who worked as the lab's director from 1988 to February 2007. Alan Goldman, division director of Science and Technology at Ames Laboratory, has served as interim director since Barton's return to teaching in ISU's Department of Chemistry.