Groundbreaking particle physicist named Fermilab chief research officer and deputy director, UChicago professor

September 7, 2022

Bonnie Fleming
Bonnie Fleming

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Director Lia Merminga announced today that Bonnie Fleming, currently physics professor at Yale University, has been named Fermilab’s chief research officer and deputy director responsible for leading all areas of science and technology, effective September 6, 2022. She has also been appointed part-time professor in the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago. 

Fleming is a familiar member of the Fermilab community, having worked on Fermilab experiments since 1997. Currently the lab’s advisor for science and technology, she began her career at Fermilab as a Columbia University graduate student, working on the NuTeV experiment and later as a Lederman Fellow working on MiniBooNE.

“Bonnie is uniquely qualified to serve as the new Fermilab’s deputy director for science and technology and chief research officer,” Merminga said. “As an internationally recognized expert in neutrino physics, the founding spokesperson for the ArgoNeuT and the MicroBooNE neutrino experiments, and a pioneer in developing the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers detector technology employed for these experiments as well as for the international DUNE experiment hosted by Fermilab, Bonnie brings vast experience, expertise, enthusiasm and collaboration to her new role.”

Fleming has served on several community panels in particle physics, including the 2014 P5 High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP) subpanel, and more recently, she was the co-chair for the DOE Basic Research Needs on Instrumentation and the ongoing HEPAP subpanel on International Benchmarking, as well as a member of the current National Academies Decadal Survey in particle physics.

“Fermilab has always been like home to me,” Fleming said. “I look forward to my new role and working with my colleagues toward Fermilab’s scientific vision and mission and to supporting the projects Fermilab has underway now and will execute in the future.” 

Fleming also helped establish Fermilab’s Neutrino Physics Center and served as the deputy chief research officer from 2016-2018. She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields mentoring award. Fleming has been on faculty at Yale University since 2004 and will transition to UChicago on September 6.

We are delighted that Bonnie Fleming will join the Fermilab and UChicago community of physicists," said Angela Olinto, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division at UChicago. "Bonnie is internationally recognized for her outstanding leadership in neutrino physics, one of the most exciting areas of high-energy physics. Her outstanding vision will significantly impact the scientific community at Fermilab, UChicago, and the world."

This article has been adapted from Fermilab’s news release.

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