KNOXVILLE — A University of Tennessee chemistry professor has been named acting director of the new institute that will give scientists access to the Spallation Neutron Source and other research facilities in Oak Ridge.
Dr. Lee Magid will oversee the Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences, which is a cooperative effort between UT and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to support research on the SNS and the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
Magid, whose appointment was effective July 1, is UT’s liaison to ORNL for science and technology.
The new institute has been created to develop programs for researchers, students, and higher-education faculty who will use the SNS to study the structure of materials. JINS will also partner with area colleges to educate the workforce needed to operate the facility when it opens in 2006.
Magid’s research involves using neutron beams to study the structure and dynamics of surfactants, detergents and other molecules that cluster when dissolved in water. Prior to coming to UT, she was vice president for research and graduate studies at the University of Kentucky.
The SNS is being built for the U.S. Department of Energy.