New American Institute of Physics CEO Has Optics Background

Optics and plasmonics researcher Robert G.W. Brown will become the new CEO of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) on June 1.

He succeeds H. Frederick Dylla, who announced his intent to retire last June after eight years as CEO of the nonprofit federation of scientific societies.

"I plan to work closely with the board of directors to further relationships within the federation's member societies, as well as with government officials, policymakers, and all levels of physical science professionals and educators," Brown said.

Brown previously served as the chief sensor scientist at the Advanced Technology Center of Rockwell Collins Inc. and worked concurrently as an adjunct full professor in the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic of the University of California, Irvine, and in UC Irvine's department of computer science.

"His integrity as a scientist, his high personal achievement and his vision as a business leader will help AIP build upon its successes and chart a path forward to an even brighter future," said Louis J. Lanzerotti, chairman of the AIP board of directors.

Brown's accomplishments at Rockwell Collins include building new nanoplasmonic detectors and inventing ultrafast computing schemes for detecting light in the UV, visible IR and terahertz regions. He also created ultrahigh-index nanoplasmonic glass, which can be used to make ultrathin and extremely lightweight lenses, for example. Some 25 newly filed patents cover these breakthrough inventions, with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office having granted nine to date.

His career also includes serving on the U.K.'s Home Office Science and Technology Advisory Board and NASA's International Microgravity Advisory Committee, and also as professor and director of nanotechnology for Northern Ireland. He was elected into the European Academy in 2002.

Brown also recently served as treasurer on the board of managers of AIP Publishing LLC, a nonprofit scholarly publisher that is wholly owned by AIP.

For more information, visit www.aip.org.