About
Jim Alexander is a Professor in the Department of Physics at Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences, where he has been a faculty member since 1988. He currently serves as Director of the Laboratory for Elementary-Particle Physics (LEPP) at Cornell, a position he held since 2006. His academic career at Cornell progressed from Assistant Professor (1988-1993) to Associate Professor (1993-1998) and finally to Professor (1998-present).
Dr. Alexander received his B.A. from Carleton College in 1976, followed by an M.S. (1979) and Ph.D. (1984) from the University of Chicago. After completing his doctorate, he served as a Research Associate at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center from 1984 to 1988 before joining the Cornell faculty. He also served as Visiting Foreign Scholar at KEK, Japan (1997-1998) and Director of Graduate Studies for the Physics Department (2001-2006).
Professor Alexander's research focuses on experimental elementary particle physics, particularly on physics beyond the Standard Model. His work involves the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where he is involved with the CMS experiment, and the International Linear Collider (ILC) project. His research addresses fundamental questions about the nature of dark matter, the structure of spacetime, and potential new physics beyond the Standard Model. He has made significant contributions to particle detector technology and instrumentation, especially silicon strip detectors used in high-energy physics experiments like CLEO.
Analysis of Professor Alexander's recent publications reveals a strong focus on particle accelerator technology, particularly related to the Cornell Electron Storage Ring as a test accelerator for ILC damping ring research. He has also maintained active research in particle physics through the CMS experiment at the LHC, while continuing work in fluid turbulence where he made significant contributions to understanding particle accelerations in fully developed turbulence.
Among his notable scientific awards are the Presidential Young Investigator award (1990-1996) and being named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (1999). He has served on numerous important committees including HEPAP (1999-2001), FNAL PAC (2001-2005, chair 2004-2005), SLAC EPAC (1997-2000), and the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) (2005-2008).
Professor Alexander has advised numerous graduate students throughout his career, including current students Nathan Mirman and Shao Min Tan who work on the CMS experiment. His former students have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. He has also been actively involved in undergraduate research, mentoring many students who have contributed to his work on dark photon searches and accelerator diagnostics.
As Director of the Laboratory for Elementary-Particle Physics at Cornell, Professor Alexander leads a team of researchers working on cutting-edge particle physics experiments. His group is particularly involved with the CMS experiment at the LHC, where they focus on searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model, including supersymmetry and extra spatial dimensions. He also maintains interests in fluid turbulence research through collaborations with the physics of particle tracking in turbulent flows.
