Geesaman chairs DOE/NSF advisory panel

Donald Geesaman

Distinguished Argonne Fellow Donald Geesaman has been appointed chair of the U.S. Department of Energy/National Science Foundation Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) for a three-year term.

The NSAC provides official advice to DOE and the NSF on the national program for basic nuclear science research. NSAC develops a comprehensive long-range plan for the field every five to seven years, establishing priorities for new facilities and operations. The last such plan was completed in 2007.

This spring Geesaman and the committee have been asked by DOE and NSF to provide advice on implementing the priorities and recommendations of the 2007 plan in light of projected budgetary constraints. The committee will examine existing research capabilities and scientific efforts and advise the two agencies on the best use of time and resources to achieve the planned programs.

Geesaman is associate director of Argonne’s Physics Division. He was director of that division from 2000-2007.

He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association of the Advancement of Science and was elected the chair of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the APS for 2004-2005.

His recent research focuses on understanding the implications of nucleon substructure in nuclear physics and on understanding the structure of nuclei. Geesaman is the author of more than 100 scientific publications.

April 2012