Hermann August Grunder (born December 4, 1931) is a Swiss-American nuclear and accelerator physicist. Dr. Hermann A. Grunder was the founding director of

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), commonly called Jefferson Lab or JLab, is a US National Laboratory located in Newport News, Virginia. Its stated mission is "to provide forefront scientific facilities, opportunities and ...

and a Director Emeritus of

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...

Biography

Born 4 December 1931 in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Grunder has been a very vocal advocate for the sciences especially within the

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...

, having worked for multiple labs during his estimated forty years within the National Laboratory system. Grunder obtained his master's degree in engineering from the Kalrsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) in 1958 and in 1967 earned his doctorate in experimental nuclear physics from the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. He entered the National Laboratory system in 1959 beginning at the

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States Department of Energy National Labs, United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, t ...

. From 1968 he was in the accelerator department. In 1979, he became the associate director and head of the departments for accelerators and nuclear fusion. Grunder spent a cumulative 17 years (approximately) with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, moving on to the directorship of the up-and-coming Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility from 1985 to 2000. Grunder was the first director of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and had a literal hand in its formation and construction. In 2000, he accepted the directorship of the National Lab system's oldest lab: Argonne. It was from this lab that he retired in 2005.

Honors and awards

In 1979, Grunder received the U.S. Senior Scientist Award presented by the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resear ...

. In 1980 he became a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. In February 1996, received the Distinguished Associate Award presented by the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2018, Grunder was awarded the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

NPSS Particle Accelerator Science and Technology (PAST) Award for his outstanding contributions to the development of particle accelerator science and technology. He received

honorary doctor An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

degrees from eight universities, including

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

References

1931 births Living people Scientists from Basel-Stadt Swiss emigrants to the United States Argonne National Laboratory people University of Basel alumni Swiss physicists 20th-century American physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society {{physicist-stub