Brookhaven National Laboratory has a new interim leader. Long-time physicist and current Deputy Director for Science and Technology John Hill was appointed interim director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility, effective immediately.
The change comes as Laboratory Director JoAnne Hewett announced she is stepping down to join Stony Brook University as a tenured faculty member in the C.N. Yang Institute of Theoretical Physics. Hewett, who served as director since 2022, thanked staff for their support and called Brookhaven “a terrific lab” in a farewell note to employees.
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA)—the partnership between Battelle and Stony Brook University that operates the lab on behalf of DOE’s Office of Science—will conduct a national search for a permanent successor.
Hill has been at Brookhaven since 1992, starting as a postdoctoral researcher in the Physics Department. He went on to lead the Lab’s X-ray Scattering Group, direct the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) from 2015 to 2023, and oversee energy and photon sciences. He became Deputy Director for Science and Technology in 2023.
“Brookhaven is an incredible place, powered by outstanding people and facilities,” Hill said. “I am honored to take on this role and help deliver impactful science for the nation.”
Hill’s career has earned him a Presidential Early Career Award, a DOE Young Independent Scientist Award, election as a fellow of the American Physical Society, and Brookhaven’s own Science and Technology Award. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree from Imperial College London.
BSA leaders thanked Hewett for advancing Brookhaven’s scientific mission, citing her role in the Electron-Ion Collider project, the creation of two new research directorates, and efforts to renew and modernize the lab’s infrastructure. They praised her leadership and welcomed her return to academia at Stony Brook.