Piermaria Oddone

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
P. O. Box 500
Batavia, IL 60510
Phone: 630.840.3211
Fax: 630.840.2900

Oddone was appointed Director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory July, 2005. Fermilab, a US Department of Energy Laboratory, is managed by Fermi Research Alliance (FRA), a partnership of the University of Chicago and the Universities Research Associates (URA). Fermilab advances the understanding of matter, energy, space and time through the study of elementary particle physics. Fermilab provides cutting edge particle accelerators and detectors to qualified researchers to conduct basic research at the frontiers of particle physics and related disciplines. Fermilab also has a vital program in particle astrophysics and cosmology linking the physics of elementary particles to the evolution and fate of the Universe.

Oddone was previously Deputy Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with primary responsibility for the scientific development of the laboratory and its representation to the agencies. Achievements during his tenure as Deputy Director include gaining the National Energy Super Computer Center (NERSC), launching and developing the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), breaking ground on the Molecular Foundry (the LBNL nanosciences center), establishing major new programs in quantitative biology, astrophysics and computer science and exploiting the Advanced Light Source (ALS).

Oddone's research has been in experimental particle physics and based primarily on electron-positron colliders at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). He invented the Asymmetric B-Factory, a new kind of elementary particle collider to study the differences between matter and antimatter, and worked in the development of the PEP II Asymmetric B-Factory at SLAC (a second one was built in Tsukuba, Japan) and the formation of the large international collaboration, BaBar, to exploit its physics opportunities. Together with the Belle detector in Japan, BaBar discovered the violation of matter-antimatter symmetry in the decay of particles containing the b quark. Hundreds of researchers have used the B-Factories over the last decade, developing a precise understanding of the quark model. Oddone received the 2005 Panofsky Award of the American Physical Society for the invention of the Asymmetric B-Factory.

Oddone was born in Arequipa, Peru, and is a U.S. citizen. After receiving his undergraduate degree from MIT, Oddone received his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Related site: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory