Skip to main content

Prof. Ian Chapman to become new CEO of the UK fusion programme

Prof. Ian Chapman to become new CEO of the UK fusion programme

Prof. Ian Chapman to become new CEO of the UK fusion programme on Oct 1, 2016

On the 3th of August, Professor Ian Chapman has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Starting on the 1st of October, professor Chapman takes over the CEO position of professor Steve Cowley, who announced in April that he is taking the position of President of Corpus Christi College in Oxford.

As brand new CEO, the 34 years old Chapman will lead Britain's magnetic confinement fusion research programme at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). "I am determined to push on with the great work", Chapman says. "Furthermore, I hope that my appointment will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers to make a success of ITER, the international fusion project which in my opinion is the most important experiment mankind has ever done."

Next to JET, the world's largest tokamak, Chapman will also be in charge of the recently-opened Materials Research Facility, the RACE robotics centre, the Oxford Advanced Skills facility and the MAST-tokamak, which is finishing its major upgrade in 2017 according to schedule.

Professor Cowley is very pleased with the appointment of his successor: “Ian has risen quickly for good reason: he is a world-class scientist, a thoughtful manager, and a strategic thinker of the first order – astonishing in one so young. Culham is a precious UK asset and I am pleased that it will be in such good hands.”


For more information: