Message from Argonne Director Robert Rosner

Dear Friends:

2006 has been a year full of challenges and opportunities, and it marks a significant milestone for all of us at Argonne. We are celebrating our 60th anniversary — 60 years in which we have grown from a small group of reactor scientists to one of the premier research and development institutions in the world. We successfully worked with The University of Chicago in its bid to retain the laboratory's operating contract with the Department of Energy, and our senior management team is realizing the results of the exciting opportunities available through various alliances that we have forged with our academic and industrial partners. We are undertaking major scientific initiatives and are reinventing Argonne as a premier science and technology laboratory — a place where the best minds come together to open up possibilities for a brighter future.

Amid the flux and change of the past six decades, one thing has stayed constant: the high caliber of the scientists, engineers and support staff who make up the laboratory. The true strength of a laboratory lies in its people — people who conduct experiments, make the discoveries, do the math, process the paper and keep it all running safely. These are the individuals who are continuously honing the dynamic edge of creativity and developing innovations for the future.

It is their expertise in materials science and chemistry, mathematics and computer science, advanced biosciences, fundamental physics, energy and environmental science and technology, accelerator design and national security that enables us to forge forward with our leading scientific initiatives. We're upgrading the Advanced Photon Source, integrating energy, environment, and economic research for a more diverse, sustainable energy future, developing an exotic beams facility to uncover the origins of heavy nuclei, enabling petascale computing to revolutionize science and working to close the nuclear fuel cycle through the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Operational excellence is part of our scientific excellence — we're committed to doing science safely, creating a culture of safety and achieving excellence in all our processes.

This inaugural issue of ArgonneNow is really about the science and the people behind it: the ones who have consistently contributed to the success of this lab and those of us who will continue to make Argonne shine in the decades to come.

As we celebrate our 60th year, I would like to acknowledge The University of Chicago's unwavering support and invaluable management. I am also very grateful for the support of the Department of Energy and all the other funding agencies that enable us to do great science and technology that tackles the hardest problems and develops the most innovative solutions in service to the nation.

Robert Rosner
Director
Argonne National Laboratory