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Institutional History
AbstractLaboratory directorsImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitationsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectStanford Linear Accelerator Center
Dates
1962 – 2008
Authorized Form of Name
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Additional Forms of Names
SLAC
Stanford University. Linear Accelerator Center
Stanford University. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Institutional History
Abstract
The Stanford Linear Accelerator was formally approved for construction in 1962 with research beginning in 1966. Although it is a part of Stanford University, it is distinct from the Stanford physics department. SLAC's scientific mission has diversified from its original focus on particle physics and accelerator science to include cosmology, materials and environmental sciences, biology, chemistry, and alternative energy. In 2008, the United States Department of Energy renamed the facility the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
Laboratory directors
1961-84, Wolfgang Panofsky.
1984-99, Burton Richter.
1999-2007, Jonathan Dorfan.
2007-08, Persis Drell.
Important Dates
1961 – 2007Wolfgang Panofsky was on staff.
1962Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) was formally approved for construction, Menlo Park (Calif.).
1962 – 2008Richard Taylor was on staff.
1963 – 2008Martin Perl was on staff.
1963 – 2008Burton Richter was on staff.
1963 – 2008Sidney Drell was on staff.
1964 – 1967Jeremiah Sullivan was on staff.
1966Research began at SLAC, Menlo Park (Calif.).
1967 – 1968Helen Quinn was on staff.
1971 – 2008Charles Prescott was on staff.
1974Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project (SSRP) was opened.
1977 – 2008Helen Quinn was on staff.
1978 – 2008Jonathan Dorfan was on staff.
1979 – 1980Alan Guth was on staff.
1980 – 1982Joseph Polchinski was on staff.
1987Stanford Linear Collider was completed.
1989 – 1998James Bjorken was on staff.
1991 – 2008Zhi-Xun Shen was on staff.
2000 – 2008Joachim Stöhr was on staff.
2002 – 2008Persis Drell was on staff.
2003 – 2008Steven Kahn was on staff.
2008United States Department of Energy renamed the facility the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where "SLAC" has no explicit meaning, Menlo Park (Calif.).
Places
Headquarters
Subjects
Citations
Historical information from the SLAC history webpage (https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/about/slac-history).
Relationships
People
Employees & Officers
Member, Program Advisory Committee for Nuclear Physics.
Arnold, R. G. (Raymond George), 1942-
Theoretical Physicist.
Member, Scientific Policy Committee.
Byer, R. L. (Robert L.), 1942-
Member, Science Advisory Committee, Linac Coherent Light Source.
Visiting Professor and Member, Scientific Policy Committee.
Cool, Rodney L. (Rodney Lee), 1920-1988
Member, Policy Committee.
Staff Physicist; Associate Professor; Professor; Associate Director; Director; and Director Emeritus.
Professor; Director, Particle Physics and Astrophysics; Deputy Project Manager, Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope; Deputy Director; and Director.
Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-
Professor of Physics; Executive Head, Theoretical Physics; Deputy Director; and Professor Emeritus.
Ginzton, Edward L. (Edward Leonard), 1915-1998
Director (Project M).
Research Associate.
Chair, Policy Committee.
Researcher.
Guggenheim Fellow and Visiting Professor.
Jackson, John David, 1925-2016
Member, Program Advisory Committee and Member, Scientific Policy Committee.
Research Associate.
Professor of Physics; Director of Particle Physics and Astrophysics; and Deputy Project Director and Camera Lead Scientist, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project.
McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-
Member, Science Policy Committee.
Nelson, Ann E. (Ann Elizabeth)
Member, Advisory Committee, Particle Physics and Astrophysics.
Physicist.
Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007
Founding Director; Professor; Director Emeritus; and Emeritus Professor.
Professor of Physics; Chair, High-Energy Physics Faculty; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.
Research Associate and Member, Experimental Program Advisory Committee.
Staff Member; Associated Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Associate Director, Research Division; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.
Research Associate in Physics; Visiting Scientist; Research Associate; Member, Scientific Staff; Education Coordinator; Assistant to the Director, Education and Public Outreach; Professor; and Chair, Particle Physics and Astrophysics (PPA) Faculty.
Richmond, Geraldine (Geraldine L.), 1953-
Chair, Science Advisory Committee, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.
Associate Professor; Professor; Technical Director; Director; and Emeritus Director.
Member, Science Policy Committee.
Visiting Professor.
Member, Scientific Policy Committee.
Assistant Professor of Applied Physics and Photo Science; Associate Professor of Applied Physics and Photon Science; Professor of Applied Physics and Photon Science; and Director, Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences.
Deputy Director, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project.
Senior Research Associate; Deputy Director, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source; Director, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source; Chair, Users Executive Committee, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory; Consulting Professor; Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory; and Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, Linac Coherent Light Source.
Research Associate.
Taylor, Richard Edward, 1929-2018
Experimental Physicist; Associate Professor; Professor; Associate Director, Research Division; and Professor Emeritus.
Wilson, Kenneth G. (Kenneth Geddes), 1936-2013
Staff Member.
Member and Chair, Scientific Policy Committee.
Member, Program Advisory Committee and Chair, Experimental Program Advisory Committee.
Associates & Members
Ballam, Joseph, 1917-1997
Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-
Cardman, L. S.
deStaebler, Herbert C. (Herbert Conrad)
Fischer, Gerhard Emil
Flatte, Stanley M.
Fortney, Lloyd R.
Garwin, Edward L. (Edward Lee)
Geesaman, Donald F.
Gittelman, Bernard, 1932-
Hansen, W. W. (William Webster), 1909-1949
Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999
Kistiakowsky, Vera
Paterson, James McEwan, 1937-
Pine, Jerry
Piore, Emanuel Ruben, 1908-2000
Sadrozinski, H. F.-W. (Hartmut F.-W.)
Sands, Matthew L. (Matthew Linzee)
Sayers, Dale E.
Siemann, R. H. (Robert H.)
Walker, R. L. (Robert Lee), 1919-2005
Institutions
Institutional Hierarchy
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Renamed by the United States Department of Energy in 2008.
Collaborators
Multiple joint projects.
Stanford University. Department of Physics
Operator and share the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC).
United States. Department of Energy
Programmatic director and funding agency.
Associates
American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics
Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.
W. W. Hansen Laboratories of Physics
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
A 3-kilometer accelerator [supported by the U. S. Atomic Engery Commission], circa 1967.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Draft of April press conference with Joyce (Vice-President Pacific Gas & Electric), Panofsky (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), Seaborg (Atomic Energy Commission), and Terman (Acting President Stanford), 1964.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Press release regarding financing of underground power lines to Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 1964.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
SLAC Accelerator Operations records, 1965-1980.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Accelerator Systems operations reports, 1964-1979.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Associat Director administrative records of Joseph Ballam, 1965-1988.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Budget Office records, 1963-1981.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Director's Office records of Burton Richter, 1974-[ongoing].
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Director's Office records of Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, 1938-[ongoing].
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Experimental Facilities Department records.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Experimental Program Advisory Committee records, 1967-[ongoing].
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Publications Office photographs, 1961-[ongoing].
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Research Division Group C administrative records, 1961-1979.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
SLAC Research Division Group C leader's files, 1962-1979.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Symposium on Electron Linear Accelerators in honor of Richard B. Neal's 80th birthday [sound recording] / Stanford Linear Accelerator Center ; 1997 September 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
The power line situation, 1964.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
Burton Richter papers, 1952-1999 (bulk 1963-1999).
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Dale E. Sayers papers, 1959-2004.
Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries
North Carolina State University
Box 7111, Raleigh, NC 27695-7111, USA
Edward L. Garwin papers, 1950-2003.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Edward L. Ginzton papers, circa 1937-1992.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Felix Bloch papers, 1931-1987.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Gerry Fischer papers, 1945-1993.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Gerson Goldhaber scientist records, 1956-1990 (bulk 1961-1989).
Archives and Records Office
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
One Cyclotron Road, Bldg. 69-107, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Herbert C. deStaebler papers, 1953-2007.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Jay Marx TPC research and development administrative records, 1972-1983.
Archives and Records Office
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
One Cyclotron Road, Bldg. 69-107, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Joseph Ballam papers, 1972-1996.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
LBL Physics Division research and development files, 1953-1982 (bulk 1970-1978).
Archives and Records Office
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
One Cyclotron Road, Bldg. 69-107, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
LBL Physics Division Trilling-Goldhaber Group technical notes, 1960-1978.
Archives and Records Office
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
One Cyclotron Road, Bldg. 69-107, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Lloyd R. Fortney papers, 1964-1998.
Archives
Duke University
341 Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706, USA
National management of high-energy physics facilities papers, 1964-1965.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Oral history interview with Barry C. Barish, 1998 May-June.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Bernard Gittelman, 1996 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Brad Filippone and Larry Cardman, 2014 June 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Burton Richter, 1996 July 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Donald F. Geesaman, 2013 July 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Emanuel Ruben Piore, 1977 March 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with George H. Trilling, 2006 March 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Hartmut Sadrozinski, 1996 July 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Henry Way Kendall, 1986 November 25 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with James McEwan Paterson, 1996 July 17.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Jerome Pine.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Joseph Polchinski, 2009 March 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Larry S. Cardman and J. Dirk Walecka, 2013 August 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Matthew L. Sands, 1987 May 4 and 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Matthew Sands, 1996 July 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1978 December 19, 1979 January 5 and 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with R. J. Holt, 2013 July 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sidney D. Drell, 1986 July 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sidney Drell, 1996 August 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Stanley Martin Flatté, 1986 July 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Vera Kistiakowsky, 1976 April 27, May 11, 26, June 15, August 26, and September 1.
Institute Archives
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1997 April 11 and May 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Panofsky, 1996 July 11.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Panofsky, 2004 April 7, 8, 9 and May 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Probes.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: SLAC-E-122, 1989.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Women in High-Energy Physics, 1991.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Pais Prize session: the national laboratories after 1980 [sound recording], 2012 April 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Papers relating to the CLEO Experiment and the Origins of the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR).
In the possession of Boyce Dawkins McDaniel at Floyd R. Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14050, USA
Research activities in physics at Stanford (Physics 260) [student notes], 1985.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Richard E. Taylor papers, 1964-1992.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Robert H. Siemann papers, 1991-2005.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Robert L. Walker papers, 1937-1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Rodney Lee Cool papers, 1948-1988.
Rockefeller Archive Center
15 Dayton Ave., Pocantico Hills, North Tarrytown, NY 10591-1598, USA
Stanford University Department of Physics history, 2008.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Study of Multi-Institutional Collaborations Phase I project files: high energy physics, 1987-1992.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
W. W. Hansen Laboratories of Physics records, 1947-1964.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
William W. Hansen papers, 1925-1974.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Wolfgang Panofsky papers, 1934-2007.
National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
Published Resources
Author
[Proceedings of the] 1974 PEP summer study / LBL/SLAC / [Editors, J. Kadyk ... et al.]
Beam line / Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
Proceedings of the Thirteenth SLAC Summer Institute on Particle Physics - July 1985 - Supersymmetry.