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Politics & Government

Major Changes at Fermilab — On Top of Government Shutdown

Fermilab Today stops publication due to partial government shutdown.

Even while physicists at Fermilab were celebrating the Nobel Prize won by theorists Peter Higgs and Francois Englert, big changes are taking place in the Fermilab organization, including dealing with the fallout of a partial government shutdown.

If you look at the Fermilab website, you'll see evidence that the shutdown has had at least a partial affect on the day-to-day operations of the accelerator laboratory in Batavia. 

"Fermilab Today will not be published for the duration of the lapse of federal funding," says the top line of the Fermilab Today newsletter.

At the same time, new Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer is shuffling the deck of Fermilab's leadership.

Chief Operating Officer Jack Anderson left Fermilab on Friday, Oct. 4, taking a job as deputy director for operations at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Lockyer's first step in reorganization takes place Friday, when two individuals will separately step into the COO and associate laboratory director (ALD) for operations positions.

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Vicky White will be the laboratory's COO through mid-2014. She will further develop the Strategic Lab Agenda, lead the Contractor Assurance System and support key laboratory operations initiatives. In the near term, she will also continue in her current position as chief information officer and ALD for computing.

Randy Ortgiesen will become the new ALD for operations. He will lead the lab's day-to-day operations, managing the Business Services Section, Facilities Engineering Services Section and the Workforce Development and Resources Section. In the near term, he will continue to serve in his current position as head of FESS.

Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I have selected both Vicky and Randy for these new roles based on their broad and deep knowledge of laboratory operations and DOE interfaces in critical mission support areas, as well as their demonstrated leadership and management abilities," Lockyer said in his Fermilab Today column. "They will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition for the laboratory's operations and our partners."

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