J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series

Nigel Lockyer is an experimental particle physicist. Lockyer was most recently director of TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics from 2007-2013 and then director of the Department of Energy’s Fermilab from 2013 to 2022.  He was a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of British Columbia and is presently a professor of Physics at Cornell University.

His research focused on high-energy particle experiments at the energy frontier, with an interest in testing fundamental symmetries and studying the heaviest quarks. He also pursued his interests in accelerator science and technology.  While at Pennsylvania, Lockyer developed his interest in the applications of physics to real-world problems; he worked with the Penn Medical School on proton therapy for cancer using accelerators and detectors for medical physics.  

Born in Scotland and raised in Canada, Lockyer received his graduate education in the United States.  He earned his B.S. in physics from York University in Toronto and his Ph.D. in physics from The Ohio State University.

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of the society’s 2006 Panofsky Prize for his leading research on the bottom quark. He has honorary degrees from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and North Illinois University. He was bestowed the decoration of “Cavaliere” (Knight) of the Order of the Star of Italy by the President of the Italian republic, Sergio Mattarella, December 2020. More recently, he received the DOE Distinguished Service Award in 2021 and was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by her Majesty the Queen January 1, 2022.