Physicists tapped to help
‘accelerate' university research plans

by Tom Parisi

President John Peters has given special appointments to two NIU physicists, accentuating their roles in cultivating growing areas of interdisciplinary research on campus.

Peters named Gerald Blazey as the new presidential science adviser, a post charged with assisting university leadership in the development of scientific initiatives, coordinating the university's work with federal laboratories and expanding research into the medical applications of accelerator physics.

Blazey is a Distinguished Research Professor at NIU. For the past four years, he also has served as co-spokesperson of the DZero project at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The collaboration brings together the expertise of more than 675 researchers from nearly 40 U.S. universities and 40 foreign institutions.

Peters announced the appointment during an April 25 reception honoring faculty and staff who have excelled in the acquisition of external funding.

The president also named Clyde Kimball as presidential science adviser emeritus, recognizing “the important role he has played in service to two NIU presidents.”

Kimball also is a Distinguished Research Professor, a frequent collaborator on research at Argonne National Laboratory and director of NIU's Institute for Nanoscience, Engineering and Technology, where students and faculty are creating next-generation materials and nanotech applications. He has been cited as being among the state's most influential scientists impacting technology.

Kimball has for many years been involved in efforts to expand interdisciplinary research on campus.

“Just as Clyde Kimball has and will continue to lead our work and advise me on matters related to nanoscience, I have realized the need for ongoing consultation in the area of accelerator science,” Peters said. “Jerry Blazey will be directing NIU's own ‘acceleration' into the world of (medical) physics.”

Blazey will continue his role in the Department of Physics, where he serves as co-director of the Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector Development (NICADD). The NIU center is dedicated to the development of a new generation of particle accelerators and detectors.

As presidential science adviser, his overarching focus will be on collaborations with Fermilab in Batavia and Argonne near Lemont.

“With our proximity to two national laboratories, the university is well-placed to contribute to national scientific research and development,” Blazey said.

Both federal laboratories could play key roles in NIU efforts to expand the applications of accelerator physics in medicine. NIU operates the Institute for Neutron Therapy at Fermilab for the treatment of certain types of cancer.

“My initial task will be the coordination of scientific efforts associated with a center dedicated to the radiological treatment of cancer using proton beams,” Blazey said. “Public health is reason enough for such a center, and the benefits to science and medicine are in tune with the national need and the university's potential for growth.”

Blazey said other areas of research potential include environmental studies, clean energy and new initiatives in accelerator physics, such as the International Linear Collider (ILC), a proposed multi-billion-dollar project.

The U.S. Department of Energy has expressed its interest in the possibility of hosting the ILC at Fermilab. Discoveries at the ILC promise to revolutionize our understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe and produce far-reaching applications and technologies.

5-1-06