Young-Kee Kim, the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago, has been appointed interim director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a United States Department of Energy research center for high-energy particle physics. Her appointment follows the resignation of Lia Merminga, who has served as the lab’s first woman director since August 2022.
A University of Chicago faculty member since 2003, Dr. Kim has conducted extensive research on experimental particle and accelerator physics. She previously served as chair of the department of physics and senior advisor to the provost for global scientific initiatives. Her distinguished career has led to several notable appointments including deputy director of Fermilab and president of the American Physical Society. Earlier in her career, Dr. Kim was a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley for six years.
Dr. Kim received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in physics from Korea University. She holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Rochester in New York.