FPN11-25
Jim Van Dam Accepts Key USDOE Fusion Post
June 9, 2011
Dr. James W. Van Dam, Director of the Institute of Fusion Studies at the
University of Texas at Austin, has accepted the post of Director,
Research Division, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (OFES) at the U. S.
Department of Energy (USDOE) effective September 11, 2011. The OFES
Research Division is responsible for managing and funding the bulk of
the OFES fusion program, exclusive of the U.S. contributions to the
international ITER project. Since 2007, Jim has also served as director
of the U.S. Burning Plasma Physics Organization (USBPO) which
coordinates all research efforts in the U.S. in support of ITER design
and preparations for operations and has been designated as "Chief
Scientist for the U.S. ITER Project". He is also one of four U.S.
members on the ITER Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC).
Jim received his Ph.D. in physics from UCLA in 1979, with periods of
graduate study also at the University of California at Berkeley and the
Institute of Plasma Physics at Nagoya University in Japan. Subsequently,
he was a Visiting Member at the Institute for Advanced Study at
Princeton University for one year before joining the Institute of Fusion
Studies at the University of Texas. He has published over 100 scientific
papers related to fusion plasma physics and has published two books. He
is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of Fusion
Power Associates Board of Directors.
Until taking up his appointment in September, Jim can be reached at
vandam@physics.utexas.edu