SLAC at 60: past, present, future

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This year, SLAC celebrates its remarkable past while continuing its quest for a bright future. This presentation takes a look at how it all started with the lab’s two-mile-long linear accelerator and accompanying groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics; explores how the lab’s scientific mission has evolved over time to include many disciplines ranging from X-ray science to cosmology; and discusses the most exciting perspectives for future research, from developing new quantum technology to pushing the frontiers of our understanding of the universe on its largest scales.

JoAnne Hewett is a world-class theoretical physicist with well over 100 publications in theoretical high-energy physics. Her research probes the fundamental nature of space, matter and energy, where she most enjoys devising experimental tests for preposterous theoretical ideas. She is best known for her work on the possible existence of extra spatial dimensions. She has twice been a member of the HEPAP advisory panel and made major contribution to the recent Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (“P5”) plan, which defines US high-energy physics research priorities for the next 10 years.

Since joining the SLAC faculty in 1994, JoAnne has served in key leadership roles here at SLAC, including head of the theoretical physics group, deputy director of the Science Directorate and Director of SLAC’s Elementary Particle Physics (EPP) Division. During her tenure as EPP Division director, JoAnne aligned the program with the highest P5 priorities by establishing a neutrino theory program and extending SLAC’s experimental efforts work in accelerator-based neutrino physics and neutrinoless double-beta decay. She was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2008 and named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2009, and served as chair of the American Physical Society’s Division of Particles & Fields in 2016.