AMES, Iowa -- Alexander King has been named the new director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University. The appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2008.
King is currently professor and head of the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University, a position he's held since 1999. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor, associate professor and then professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1981 to 1999. King also served as associate, acting and then vice provost at Stony Brook from 1987 to 1992. He was a research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1979 to 1981. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Metallurgy and Science of Materials at the University of Oxford, England, in 1979.
Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy praised King's selection.
"Dr. King will be an outstanding addition to the Ames Laboratory, providing leadership that will help advance the laboratory's reputation as a worldwide leader in materials and related research," Geoffroy said.
"We are delighted to have Dr. King serve as the new director of Ames Laboratory," said U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach. "His distinguished scientific achievements and proven organizational leadership will serve him well in this new role. This is a great choice for the laboratory, the scientific community, and the nation."
King received a bachelor's degree (1975) in physical metallurgy from the University of Sheffield, England; and a doctorate in metallurgy and the science of materials from the University of Oxford in 1979.
In 2007, King was a distinguished lecturer in materials science and engineering at ISU. He is a past chair of the Gordon Conference on Physical Metallurgy, past president of the Materials Research Society and a fellow of the American Society of Materials and the Institute of Materials of the United Kingdom.
King is an editor of four books and has published 108 journal articles and 145 refereed conference proceedings, book chapters, extended abstracts, book reviews and other short contributions. He has given more than 100 presentations at conferences, symposia and colloquia around the world. King's professional service includes membership on numerous committees for national and international symposia and committees.
He also is a member of the International Organizing Committee for the 2007 Joint International Conference of the 3rd International Conference on Surface and Interface Science and Engineering and the Symposium on Surface Engineering for Industrial Applications to be held in Singapore in December 2007.
King was one of five candidates for the Ames Laboratory director position. He was selected by a 14-member search committee following private and public interviews on the ISU campus in August and September.
King succeeds Tom Barton, who served as Ames Laboratory director from 1988 to February 2007, when he returned to teaching in ISU's Department of Chemistry. Alan Goldman, division director of Science and Technology at Ames Laboratory, has served as interim director since Barton's resignation.
Ames Laboratory, celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2007, is operated for the Department of Energy by Iowa State University. The lab conducts research into various areas of national concern, including the synthesis and study of new materials, energy resources, high-speed computer design, and environmental cleanup and restoration. The majority of the lab's programs are funded by DOE's Office of Science.
