Chi-Chang Kao Named Chair of the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven Lab

12-Oct-2006

Chi-Chang Kao, a physicist, has been named Chair of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) Department, effective October 1. Kao had served as interim NSLS Chair since mid-January, after Steve Dierker stepped down to lead the development of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a proposed scientific user facility that would produce x-rays more than 10,000 times brighter than the current NSLS.

As Interim Chair during the past nine months, Kao produced a five-year plan for the future development of the NSLS. With input from the user community, NSLS staff, and Brookhaven researchers, the plan identifies a number of scientific opportunities, improvements needed for better accelerator operation, and upgrades for beamlines, detectors, and infrastructure. As the new NSLS Chair, Kao wants to ensure that these initiatives are implemented.

Kao earned a B.S. degree in chemical engineering in 1980 from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1988. Shortly after, he joined BNL as a postdoctoral research assistant at the NSLS. His research focuses on the development of new experimental techniques using synchrotron radiation, and their applications to condensed matter physics and material sciences.

He received tenure as a Brookhaven physicist in 1997 and served as the NSLS high-energy program coordinator from 1998 to 2001. He was promoted to senior physicist in 2001 and was named NSLS Deputy Chairman in 2005. Kao also is the Associate Chairman for User Science and an adjunct professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University. He is a member of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/58598/chi-chang-kao-named-chair-of-the-national-synchrotron-light-source-at-brookhaven-lab.html