ASTRONOMY

Since September 2008, Seidel has been director of the National Science Foundation, or NSF’s, Office of Cyberinfrastructure, where he oversees national efforts to advance high-performance computing capabilities for education and research.

Seidel is on leave from the University to serve at NSF, but he maintains his faculty affiliation with the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, and frequently returns to the University to collaborate on research initiatives.

While he will continue to advise the Office of Cyberinfrastructure, he will oversee the MPS Directorate and its five divisions of astronomy, chemistry, materials research, mathematics and physics.

MPS research spans the full range of spatial and temporal scales accessible to human investigation--distance scales ranging from the size of atoms to the structure of galaxies and the universe itself, and timescales ranging from reactions lasting millionths of a billionth of a second to the evolution and age of the universe.  MPS develops new mathematical structures and investigates the fundamental particles and processes of matter, bringing what is learned in physical sciences to exploring complex biological systems, human and social dynamics, sustainable energy and the environment.

Seidel takes over for outgoing Assistant Director Tony Chan, who will leave the NSF after three years to become president of the Hong Kong University for Science & Technology in August. Seidel will serve as interim assistant director while the National Science Foundation conducts a nationwide search for Chan's replacement, after which Seidel will return to direct the Office of Cyberinfrastructure.

"We are privileged to have a person of Dr. Seidel’s caliber among us and look forward with confidence to his engagement with the MPS Directorate," said NSF Director Arden L. Bement, Jr.

For more information on MPS, please visit www.nsf.gov/mps/about.jsp.