“My father wanted me to be an architect. He said the competition in physics was too strong,” recalls Steven Chu, who, of course, went on to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. On 1 August, Chu took the helm of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, succeeding Charles Shank, who served for 15 years.
Despite stepping down, Shank says he will work with Chu on the immediate task facing LBNL: preparing a bid for the University of California to retain the management contract for the lab. UC has run LBNL since the lab’s creation in 1931. But largely because of security breaches at DOE’s weapons labs in Los Alamos and Livermore, it’s anticipated that DOE will, for the first time, open the LBNL management contract for bids. At a press conference announcing Chu’s appointment, UC President Robert Dynes said, “We will go into this potential competition with all...
