Francis Alexander, a physicist with extensive management and leadership experience in computational science research, has been named Deputy Director of the Computational Science Initiative at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. Alexander comes to Brookhaven Lab from DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he was the acting division leader of the Computer, Computational, and Statistical Sciences (CCS) Division.
In his new role as deputy director, Alexander will work with CSI Director Kerstin Kleese van Dam to expand CSI’s research portfolio and realize its potential in data-driven discovery. He will serve as the primary liaison to national security agencies, as well as develop strategic partnerships with other national laboratories, universities, and research institutions. His current research interest is the intersection of machine learning and physics (and other domain sciences).
“I was drawn to Brookhaven by the exciting opportunity to strengthen the ties between computational science and the significant experimental facilities—the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, the National Synchrotron Light Source II, and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials [all DOE Office of Science User Facilities],” said Alexander. “The challenge of getting the most out of high-throughput and data-rich science experiments is extremely exciting to me. I very much look forward to working with the talented individuals at Brookhaven on a variety of projects, and am grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a respected institution.”
During his more than 20 years at Los Alamos, he held several leadership roles, including as leader of the CCS Division’s Information Sciences Group and leader of the Information Science and Technology Institute. Alexander first joined Los Alamos in 1991 as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Nonlinear Studies. He returned to Los Alamos in 1998 after doing postdoctoral work at the Institute for Scientific Computing Research at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and serving as a research assistant professor at Boston University’s Center for Computational Science.
Link to full article on the Brookhaven website: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=112057