The principal of an Oxford college, Roger Cashmore, has been appointed as chair of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). He succeeds Lady Barbara Judge.
Prof Cashmore’s appointment, confirmed today by UK secretary of state for business Vince Cable, is effective 30 July 2010.
Prof Cashmore is the principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, and the current chair of the Nuclear Research Advisory Council of the UK’s Ministry of Defence. His previous posts have included director of research and deputy director-general of CERN, the European Laboratory for High Energy Physics and a member of the European Commission Fusion Facilities Review Panel.
The UKAEA manages the UK fusion research programme and operates the Joint European Torus (JET) at Culham, Oxfordshire.
Mr Cable thanked Lady Judge for her service as chair since 2004 and said Prof Cashmore had “the experience and understanding needed to deliver a clear future vision for fusion research, which is now the main purpose of the UKAEA”.
