Stuart Henderson
Stuart Henderson has served as the Director of Jefferson Lab, a world-leader in nuclear physics research, since April 3, 2017. Jefferson Lab features the first large-scale superconducting accelerator that enables the research of more than 1,500 nuclear physicists worldwide. He also serves as a Governor's Distinguished CEBAF Professor at Old Dominion University.
As laboratory director, Henderson provides the vision for the lab’s operations and future. He sets laboratory policy and program direction; procures sufficient funding for optimal operation; oversees the successful delivery of its research programs; and ensures that Jefferson Lab complies with all regulations and laws and fulfills its contractual obligations.
Henderson is an internationally recognized expert in particle accelerators. Prior to joining Jefferson Lab, Henderson served as the Director of the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade Project, where he led the effort to design and build a 4th-generation synchrotron light source that will produce the world’s brightest hard x-rays.
Previously, Henderson served as Associate Laboratory Director for Accelerators at Fermilab and managed the laboratory’s accelerator research, development, construction and operations activities. He also spent nearly a decade at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), where he played key roles in constructing and commissioning the world’s most powerful accelerator-based neutron science user facility. As the Director of the Laboratory’s Research Accelerator Division, Henderson led the SNS beam commissioning campaign and transition to successful user operations at megawatt beam power levels. He worked at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) from 1991 to 2001, first as a research fellow with Harvard University, and then as a Cornell research staff member.
Henderson has served on advisory and review committees for many of the nation's accelerator facilities, as well as for major facilities around the world. He also has served on various DOE advisory bodies, including the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel to the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Henderson earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University.