Keith Thomassen, head of the magnetic fusion energy program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) since 1991, will give up that post and retire from the Laboratory effective June 23. He will remain at the Laboratory half-time as a "Lab Associate" in a non-administrative capacity. He retains his professorship in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley, where he teaches fusion courses and supervises student theses.

LLNL Associate Director Mike Campbell indicated that he intends to conduct a broad search for a Deputy Associate Director to head the fusion energy program at LLNL, which includes both magnetic fusion energy and inertial fusion energy.

Keith began his fusion career while a graduate student at Stanford University in 1959 and has since been engaged in teaching and research in fusion energy and the related fields of plasma physics, microwave fields and circuits, and energy systems. He has taught at several universities, including Stanford, UCLA and MIT, and has published extensively, including a textbook, "Introduction to Microwave Fields and Circuits (Prentice Hall, 1971). In addition to managing the magnetic fusion energy program at LLNL, he was program leader for the $400 million Mirror Fusion Test Facility and program director for the $740 million Tokamak Physics Experiment projects. He has served on numerous advisory committees and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Keith can continue to be contacted at his LLNL address and email (thomassen1@llnl.gov).