A.J. Stewart Smith is a leading researcher in high-energy particle physics.
Princeton University faculty member A.J. Stewart Smith, a leading researcher in high-energy particle physics, has been selected to chair the University Research Board.
Professor Smith will begin a five-year term on July 1, succeeding Will Happer, who plans to return to full-time teaching and research after serving as chairman for 10 years.
"Professor Smith is a scientist of extraordinary distinction who is respected throughout the campus," university Provost Christopher Eisgruber said. "He is also a nationally-known figure in science policy and a proven administrator."
Professor Smith earned his doctorate in physics from Princeton in 1966. He joined the faculty in 1967, and served as chairman of the physics department from 1990 to 1998 and associate chairman from 1979 to 1982.
Since 1992, he has been the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics.
The chair of the University Research Board has administrative oversight of organized research activities throughout the university. The board chair also advises the president and provost about how best to sustain excellence in research at the university.
The Office of Research and Project Administration is the administrative arm of the board, which consists of six faculty members.
In 2003-2004, researchers at Princeton conducted $142 million in sponsored research, an increase of $4 million from the previous year. The largest source of research funding at Princeton was the U.S. government, which provided $105 million toward 686 projects.
In addition, researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab that year conducted $71.3 million in fusion energy research funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, Princeton said.
Mr. Eisgruber said Professor Smith faces several challenges as the cost of doing research is rising amid flat or declining government funding for scientific research in many areas.
"We are entering a period when universities will need to think imaginatively about how to nurture and support top-quality research," he said.
Over the years, Professor Smith has carried out a succession of major experiments in particle physics at U.S. national laboratories. Since 1995, he has focused on the BaBar experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator. Elected scientific team leader of the BaBar collaboration in 1999, he directed this effort to answer fundamental questions about why matter exists in the universe, the university said.
A fellow of the American Physical Society, Professor Smith served as chairman of the science and technology steering committee of Brookhaven Science Associates, the new contractors for Brookhaven National Laboratory, from 1998 to 2001.
He has served on boards for many other groups, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Academy of Sciences, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Research Council of Canada.