SANTA FE - Mr. Robert J. Denison, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute today announced the appointment of Dr. Robert A. Eisenstein to become President of the Santa Fe Institute effective June 1, 2003. Until recently, Dr. Eisenstein was Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He is currently on a research assignment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, home of the world's largest particle physics center. "The Santa Fe Institute is honored to have Bob Eisenstein as its new president. His position at NSF afforded him the opportunity to become quite familiar with the kinds of research activities pursued at the Santa Fe Institute, so he understands and supports our complex systems approach to scientific research," said Mr. Denison. He continued, "This is an extremely important job, at an important time. The Institute has grown from a small group of dedicated scientists, to an affiliated network of scientists and researchers from the best academic, and research institutions around the world. 2004 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the Santa Fe Institute, and as we explore new scientific questions it is imperative to have someone at the helm with the wisdom and experience to help chart our course as we go forward." Dr. Eisenstein inherits an organization that is rooted in mathematics, physics and computer science, but over the past several years has broadened its agenda to include research in the life sciences, economics, and more recently, social sciences. "I have followed the progress of the Santa Fe Institute for a long time and I think its reputation for excellence in scientific research is very well deserved," Dr Eisenstein said. "We will not rest on our laurels but continue to press on in terms of involving the very best and brightest scientists working in the field of complexity science today. What was once a nascent thought of a few academics bold enough to begin this experiment called the Santa Fe Institute, has become an important part of the academic tableau in universities and research institutions around the world," he continued. Dr. Eisenstein received his AB degree from Oberlin College in 1964 and his Ph.D. in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Yale University in 1968. He began his career as a post-doctoral research fellow at the WeizmannInstitute. He then joined the physics faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, where he remained until 1984. At that time Dr. Eisenstein joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign, where he served as Director of the Nuclear Physics Laboratory for several years. In 1992, he went to the National Science Foundation as Director of the Physics Division where he served until his appointment as Assistant Director in 1997. Dr. Eisenstein is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.