International Search Launched for CLS Director

Posted May 28, 1999


RESEARCH NEWS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 28, 1999
99-05-16-OTHER

INTERNATIONAL SEARCH LAUNCHED FOR CLS DIRECTOR

An international search has begun for a permanent scientific director to
lead the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron project at the University
of Saskatchewan.

U of S physicist Dennis Skopik has been appointed Acting Director of the CLS
project, effective immediately. Skopik, a driving force behind the planning
of the $173.5-million national science facility, will leave in September to
accept a position as Deputy Associate Director of Physics at the Jefferson
Laboratory in Virginia.

"I have always maintained -- and indeed the last review committee also made
this point -- that the CLS should be headed by a person who is a user of
synchrotron light," said Skopik, director of the Saskatchewan Accelerator
Laboratory which will be incorporated in the new CLS facility.

"The science done at the CLS is not my kind of research and I wanted to get
back to subatomic physics. Jefferson Laboratory is the world's premier
facility for the science that I am most interested in, so the move is a
natural career choice.

"Also, the best time for me to turn over the reins is at the beginning of
the project so someone who has an interest in the science to be done can
mold the character of the facility."

Starting in September, Michael Bancroft, a Canadian leader in synchrotron
light research, will become Interim Director of the CLS project while the
international search is underway. Skopik will work with Bancroft during the
construction period but will gradually phase out his involvement.

"I have agreed to be available over the course of construction for technical
advice but the project is in very good hands and my role will gradually
diminish," Skopik said.

Bancroft, president of the Canadian Institute for Synchrotron Radiation that
represents the more than 200 synchrotron users across Canada, will be
seconded for two years from the University of Western Ontario where he is
currently Professor of Chemistry.

U of S President George Ivany said the University is "tremendously grateful
for the guidance and leadership" Skopik has provided the CLS project from
conception to the point of construction.

"We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude, but it has been fully understood
that Dennis would return to his prime area of interest and expertise in
subatomic physics once the CLS project moved into the implementation phase,"
he said.

"While we are very sorry Dennis is leaving us, we congratulate him and offer
our very best wishes on his appointment to the prestigious Jefferson
Laboratory in Virginia.

"Dr. Michael Bancroft, the Canadian authority on synchronous light research,
will assume responsibility for the next phase of the CLS project, with Dr.
Skopik assisting in the transition. The project leadership is unfolding
completely as intended."

The $173.5-million CLS project, slated to begin operations in late 2003,
will be the biggest scientific project ever built in Canada.

A brilliant light source that allows matter to be "seen" at the atomic
scale, the CLS will provide researchers across Canada with unprecedented
opportunities for state-of-the-art investigations in materials science,
medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, and the environmental sciences.

Designed and owned by the U of S and endorsed by 18 other universities, the
CLS will be funded from both public and private sources. Information about
the CLS is available at the U of S Research web site at:
http://www.usask.ca/research/synchrotron.shtml


For more information, contact:

Dr. Dennis Skopik
Acting Director
Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory
(306) 966-6054

Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President Research
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-2506
Fax: (306) 966-2411
Email: kathryn.warden@usask.ca