Physics History Network
Over 1000 biographies of physicists and histories of institutions with information pertaining to their lives, careers, and research.
Tip: Search within this page by using Ctrl + F or ⌘ + F
Search Our Catalogs
Archives BooksCollections
Emilio Segré Visual Archives Digital Collections Oral Histories Archival Finding Aids Physics History Network Member Society Portals Ethical Cataloging StatementPreservation and Support
Donating Materials Suggest a Book Purchase Saving Archival Collections Grants to Archives Documentation Projects History NewslettersCenter for History of Physics
Scholarship & OutreachMain Navigation
HomeAboutTopic GuidesFeedbackTable of Contents
Institutional History
AbstractLaboratory directorsImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsCitationsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectFermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Dates
1967 – present
Authorized Form of Name
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Additional Forms of Names
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Batavia, USA)
Fermi National Laboratory
Fermilab
National Accelerator Laboratory
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Institutional History
Abstract
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, is a premier particle physics laboratory and collaborates with scientists around the work performing pioneering research, operating world-leading particle accelerators, and developing technologies to support United States industry. It was approved by Congress in 1967, what was called the National Accelerator Laboratory began operation in 1972, and was renamed after Enrico Fermi in 1974.
Laboratory directors
1967-78, Robert R. Wilson.
1978-89, Leon Lederman.
1989-99, John Peoples.
1999-2005, Michael Witherell.
2005-13, Piermaria Oddone.
2013-present, Nigel Lockyer.
Important Dates
1967National Accelerator Laboratory was approved by Congress, Batavia (Ill.).
1967 – 1978Robert R. Wilson was on staff.
1967 – 2007Universities Research Association, Inc., a consortium of universities, had administrative authority over the Fermilab project.
1971 – presentJohn Peoples Jr. has been on staff.
February 12, 1972The laboratory began operation.
1973 – 1976Shirley Ann Jackson was on staff.
May 11, 1974Laboratory was renamed and dedicated to Enrico Fermi becoming the Fermi National Acceleratory Laboratory (Fermilab), Batavia (Ill.).
1975 – 2010William Bardeen was on staff.
1977 – presentAlvin Tollestrup has been on staff.
1978 – 1989Leon Lederman was on staff.
1979 – 1989James Bjorken was on staff.
1985 – 1993John Huth was on staff.
1989Beginning of the Computing Division.
September 25, 1992Dedication of the Lederman Science Education Center.
1999 – 2005Michael Wetherell was on staff.
2005 – 2013Piermaria Oddone was on staff.
2007Contract to run Fermilab was passed to the Fermi Research Alliance LLC, a partnership betweeen the Universities Research Association, Inc. and the University of Chicago.
Places
Headquarters
Subjects
Physics -- Industrial applications.
Physics -- Industrial applications.
Citations
Historical information from the Fermilab History and Archives Project website (https://history.fnal.gov/).
Relationships
People
Employees & Officers
Physicist.
Associate Director for Physics.
Cool, Rodney L. (Rodney Lee), 1920-1988
Chair, Physics Advisory Committee.
Consultant.
Visiting Scientist; Member, Astrophysics Advisory Committee; and Member, Physics Advisory Committee.
Member, Board of Trustees.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist; Wilson Fellow; Staff Scientist; and Member, Physics Advisory Committee.
Jackson, John David, 1925-2016
Acting Head, Theoretical Physics Department and Member, Program Advisory Committee.
Research Associate in Theoretical Physics.
Director and Emeritus Director.
Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)
Associate Director.
Lockyer, Nigel
Director.
McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-
Member, Physics Advisory Committee.
Chair, Board of Overseers.
Director.
Physicist; Head, Research Division; Head, Antiproton Source Project, Research Division; Deputy Director; Director; and Scientist.
Consultant.
Member, Advisory Committee.
Member, Users Executive Committee and Member, Physics Advisory Committee.
Co-Spokesman, Collider Detector (CDF).
Physicist.
Scientist.
First Director.
Director; Member and Chair, Physics Advisory Committee.
Visiting Scientist; Member, Users' Executive Committee; Member and Chair, Program Advisory Committee; and Member, Visiting Committee.
Associates & Members
Atac, Muzaffer, 1933-2010
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004
Baldin, A. M. (Aleksandr Mikhaĭlovich)
Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-
Bennett, Bradley F.
Participated in experiments.
Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-
Visiting Physicist.
Dixon, Roger L., 1947-
Gaponenko, Andrei
Geesaman, Donald F.
Goldwasser, Edwin L.
Hoddeson, Lillian
Jagger, Jack
Jindariani, Sergo
Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999
Kim, Young-Kee
Pine, Jerry
Polly, Chris
Prentice, James Douglas
Rebel, Brian
Ritchie, David J., 1944-
Proposed major neutrino experiment.
Sanders, Gary H. (Gary Hilton)
Saxon, David S.
Vorobyov, Alexei
Walker, R. L. (Robert Lee), 1919-2005
Westfall, Catherine
Institutions
Collaborators
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC
Current administrative authority for the laboratory, a partnership between Universities Research Association and University of Chicago.
Universities Research Association (U.S.)
Originally had administrative authority over Fermilab until the contract passed in 2007 to the Fermi Research Alliance LLC, a partnership with the University of Chicago.
University of Chicago. Department of Physics
Faculty member Robert R. Wilson founded the laboratory and they have worked together on numerous discoveries and now is part of the Fermi Research Alliance LLC that oversees Fermilab.
Associates
American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics
Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.
United States. Congress
Approved the laboratory in 1967.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
E632 collaboration meeting records, 1980-1997.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory records of Leon M. Lederman, 1962-[ongoing].
Milton G. White History of Accelerators Room (WH-3SE) and Archives (WH-16NE)
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Leon Lederman retirement symposium [videorecording].
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews with members of Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), 1995.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Physics Advisory Committee records, 1969-[ongoing]
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Program Planning Office records, 1970-[ongoing]
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 1967-1976, 1976.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Upsilon collection.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Subject
Accelerators for sub-atomic physics: I. History [sound recording], 2011 April 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Accelerators for sub-atomic physics: II. present and near future [sound recording], 2011 May 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Aleksandr Baldin papers.
In the office of A. M. Baldin at the Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics.
Dubna, Russia
Beyond the Lab: Bringing History and Physics to the Public [sound recording], 2016 March 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Bruce Winstein papers, 1960-2010.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Captain Bradley F. Bennett (URA Vice President for Administration, 1967-1977) papers, 1963-1988.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
David Ritchie Papers, 1962-2011 (bulk 1971-2011).
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
David S. Saxon papers, 1969-1991.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Early science from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope [sound recording], 2009 May 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Edwin L. Goldwasser papers, 1968-1978.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
James D. Prentice records, 1951-1995.
University Archives
University of Toronto
120 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5, Canada
John Peoples, Jr. collection, 1933-present.
Milton G. White History of Accelerators Room (WH-3SE) and Archives (WH-16NE)
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
M. Stanley Livingston papers, 1928-1986.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Memories about Norman Foster Ramsey, 2011.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Michael Witherell papers, 1999-2005.
Milton G. White History of Accelerators Room (WH-3SE) and Archives (WH-16NE)
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Muzaffer Atac papers, 1961-2008.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Oral history interview with Alexei Vorobyov, 1990 July 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Andrei Gaponenko, 2013 May 16.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, 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 Brian Rebel, 2013 May 23.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Oral history interview with Chris Polly, 2013 June 10.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, 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 Gary H. Sanders, 1998 October 16.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, 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 Jack Jagger, 1990 June 15.
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 Leon Lederman, 1990 May 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Leon Lederman, 2002 August 12.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Mel Shochet, 1995 October 17.
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 Pier Oddone, 2013 July 2 and 8.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Wilson, 1978 May 8 through 1981 January 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Roger Dixon, 2013 July 30.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Oral history interview with Sergo Jindariani, 2013 June 14.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
Oral history interview with Young-Kee Kim, 2014 February 4.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, 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
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
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
Robert L. Walker papers, 1937-1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Robert R. Wilson records, 1936-[ongoing].
Milton G. White History of Accelerators Room (WH-3SE) and Archives (WH-16NE)
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, 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
Universities Research Association publications, 1966-2003.
History and Archives Project Office, MS-109
Fermilab
PO Box 500, Batavia, IL 90510, USA
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Physics Department subject file, 1925-2006.
University Archives
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Published Resources
Author
Subject
Scientific temperaments : three lives in contemporary science / Philip J. Hilts.
The first "truly national laboratory" : the birth of Fermilab / by Catherine Westfall.