Inside Iowa State

Nov. 2, 2007

King named to lead Ames Lab

by Steve Karsjen, Ames Lab Public Affairs

Alexander King will become the new director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory on Jan. 1, 2008. The announcement was made Oct. 22.

King currently is professor and head of the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University, a position he has held since 1999.

Prior to that, he was a faculty member in the department of materials science and engineering at Stony Brook University, New York (1981-99). King also served as associate, acting and 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, Cambridge, from 1979 to 1981.

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 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 (1979) in metallurgy and the science of materials from the University of Oxford.

In 2007, King was a distinguished lecturer in materials science and engineering at ISU. He is an editor of four books and has published 108 journal articles.

King is past president of the Materials Research Society and a fellow of both the American Society of Materials and the Institute of Materials of the United Kingdom.

King was one of five candidates for the Ames Laboratory director position. He succeeds Tom Barton, who served as director from 1988 to last February, when he returned to teaching in the chemistry department.

Alan Goldman, division director of Science and Technology at Ames Laboratory, has served as interim director since Barton's resignation.

Alexander King

"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."

Gregory Geoffroy