People
Steven Cowley
Steven Cowley, new Director of PPPL
Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, has been named the new director of PPPL, the seventh director to head the laboratory since its origin in 1951. Cowley most recently served as president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford. From 2008 through 2016, he was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and director of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.
Culham includes the Joint European Torus (JET) and Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) fusion facilities. During Cowley’s tenure, he provided the vision and strategy and led the fusion research program for the U.K. Under his leadership Culham completed an upgrade of JET, launched an upgrade of MAST and built new facilities for remote handling and nuclear materials research. In parallel, he expanded and strengthened relations with other fusion programs in Europe and around the world, and served in key advisory roles for the U.K., U.S. and European governments. He has been a member of the U.K. Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. Professor Cowley has been honored with fellowships of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering, and was knighted by the Queen in 2018.
Cowley earned his Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton in 1985, was a staff scientist at PPPL from 1987 to 1993, and also taught at the University. In his new role, Cowley is appointed professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, will manage all aspects of the Laboratory, including its performance in science, engineering, operations, project management and strategic planning, and will provide leadership to the U.S. and world fusion energy efforts.
Chelle Reno
Chelle Reno, Princeton University Assistant Vice President for Operations for PPPL
Chelle Reno, the first Princeton University assistant vice president for operations for PPPL, brings more than a decade of proven success in operations leadership on NASA science missions. In this capacity, she understands the support needed to design, build, and operate complex systems with little or no margin for error or flexibility in schedule.
Reno received an MS in Applied Physics from the University of Michigan with a focus in global magnetospheric and conjugate polar response to solar wind inputs, using satellite and ground-based data as well as the BATS-R-US code that solves 3D magnetohydrodynamic equations in finite form.
Reno supports David McComas, Princeton University vice president for PPPL, by providing operational oversight and working with the Lab, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Princeton University leadership on all of PPPL’s operational aspects. Reno recognizes that the Lab is clearly a great community and she is enthusiastic to be part of PPPL’s research mission. She said, “I’m really excited about the prospect of working with so many dedicated people to accomplish the goal of sustainable energy.”
David Carle
David Carle, new head of Facilities and Site Services
David Carle is no stranger to the task of leading facilities groups, having headed facilities at hospitals and a national pharmaceutical company during his 36 years in the field. He now leads Facilities and Site Services at PPPL.
Carle, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of New Jersey, heads a staff of 45 people and oversees maintenance for 34 buildings and the 88-acre campus. He most recently directed plant operations and maintenance at Cooper University Health Care Systems in Camden, New Jersey, a 500-bed facility, and previously held a number of Facilities and Engineering positions with increasing levels of responsibility over an 18-year period at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
He now brings resources and experience to provide PPPL staffers with a vision to do great things in support of the Lab. “When I heard of the opening in Facilities at PPPL, my interest piqued,” he said. The Lab has a great reputation, is known as a world-wide leader in science and I wanted to be here.” Since arriving, “I have been extremely impressed by the talents and attitude of staff. No one person can succeed alone, we’re all in this together to make a difference. We have to RISE* to the occasion and bring about change.”
*RISE expresses the PPPL core values of Responsibility, Innovation, Safety, and Engagement.