ODU Professor Wins Appointment
November 09, 2018
Stuart Henderson
By Betsy Hnath
Stuart Henderson, director of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), has been named a Governor's Distinguished CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) Professor. Henderson's appointment as a professor of physics at Old Dominion University was recently confirmed by the presidents of the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the College of William & Mary, following the approval of the Board of Visitors of Old Dominion.
Jefferson Lab is one of 17 national laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Old Dominion University is the lab's largest research partner. The lab also receives support from the City of Newport News and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Stuart assumed leadership of J-Lab in April 2017.
In his letter of congratulations, Northam praised Henderson's expertise and leadership.
"The Commonwealth of Virginia has enjoyed a strong partnership with Jefferson Lab, dating back over three decades when the first professorship was named. You bring strong skills and merit to Jefferson Lab," Northam wrote. "The Commonwealth is proud to have you at the helm and appreciative of ODU for helping secure your Governor's Distinguished Continuous Professor appointment."
Old Dominion University President John R. Broderick also cited Jefferson Lab's distinguished academic record among Henderson's achievements.
"Nearly one-third of all nuclear science Ph.D.'s awarded in the U.S. are based on Jefferson Lab research," he said. "Its STEM programs reach more than 13,000 students and 1,200 teachers every year. That kind of success comes with outstanding leadership like Stuart Henderson's."
"The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is very pleased to have Stuart as the leader of Jefferson Lab at this exciting time of growth, and grateful to ODU for approving his Governor's CEBAF professorship," said Jerry P. Draayer, President and CEO of SURA.
SURA serves as the majority, administrative and tax member of Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, the contractor for the 700-employee DOE facility. SURA was the sole contractor of Jefferson Lab when Virginia awarded the first GDCP in 1985.
Prior to joining Jefferson Lab, Henderson served as director of the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade Project, where he led the effort to design and build a fourth-generation synchrotron light source that will produce the world's brightest hard X-rays.
Previously, Henderson served as associate laboratory director for accelerators at Fermilab and managed the laboratory's accelerator research, development, construction and operations.
He also spent nearly a decade at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), where he played key roles in constructing and commissioning the world's most powerful accelerator-based neutron science user facility. As director of the laboratory's Research Accelerator Division, Henderson led the SNS beam commissioning campaign and transition to successful user operations at megawatt beam power levels. He worked at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) from 1991 to 2001, first as a research fellow with Harvard University, and then as a Cornell research staff member.
Henderson has served on advisory and review committees for many of the nation's accelerator facilities, as well as for major facilities around the world. He also has served on DOE advisory bodies, including the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, and the National Science Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Henderson earned his B.S. in chemistry from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in physics from Yale University.
ABOUT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY:
Old Dominion University, located in the coastal city of Norfolk, is Virginia's entrepreneurial-minded doctoral research university with more than 24,500 students, rigorous academics, an energetic residential community, and initiatives that contribute $2.6 billion annually to Virginia's economy.
ABOUT SURA:
The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is a consortium of over 60 leading research institutions in the southern United States and the District of Columbia established in 1980 as a non-stock, nonprofit corporation. SURA serves as an entity through which colleges, universities, and other organizations may cooperate with one another, and with government and industry in acquiring, developing, and using laboratories and other research facilities and in furthering knowledge and the application of that knowledge in the physical, biological, and other natural sciences and engineering. For more information, visit www.sura.org.
