Bernard named communications director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

By John Greenwald, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Communications on Dec. 15, 2015, 10 a.m.
Larry Bernard

Larry Bernard

Photo by Al Weems

Larry Bernard, a proven developer of strategic communications programs, has been named director of communications for the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), effective Dec. 14. PPPL is the nation's leading center for the exploration of plasma science and magnetic fusion energy. 

Bernard has developed highly successful internal and external communications programs in the life sciences industry. His positions have included senior communications manager at Amgen, a major biopharmaceutical company; senior manager for worldwide R&D and medical communications at pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.; and most recently senior communications director at a national health care policy think tank. 

His wide-ranging journalistic experience includes service as assistant director and senior science editor of the Cornell University News Service; science writer and reporter for the News/Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and science editor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

"Larry arrives at an exciting time for the laboratory," said PPPL Director Stewart Prager. "We have completed construction of the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade, our major fusion facility, and are about to embark on an immensely compelling research program. Communicating its findings and those of our other cutting-edge programs will broaden and deepen awareness of the laboratory. We also strive to communicate the progress in fusion and plasma science that occurs across the nation. We welcome Larry Bernard and are delighted to have his expertise to lead this vital effort."

Bernard holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He will lead the PPPL communications team and create and implement a plan to increase the visibility of the laboratory, especially its leadership role in the science and technology of magnetic fusion energy research and the science of plasma physics. He will advise PPPL leadership on communications matters and serve as a spokesperson for the laboratory. 

"It's truly an honor to work at such an illustrious laboratory with such distinguished scientists and staff," Bernard said. "It's an exciting opportunity, and a privilege, to be a part of something so special — creating the means for virtually limitless energy for all mankind. I'm looking forward to communicating the results of the research by the brilliant staff of the PPPL."

PPPL, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro, New Jersey, is devoted to creating new knowledge about the physics of plasmas — ultra-hot, charged gases — and to developing practical solutions for the creation of fusion energy. Results of PPPL research have ranged from a portable nuclear materials detector for anti-terrorist use to universally employed computer codes for analyzing and predicting the outcome of fusion experiments. The laboratory is managed by the University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, which is the largest single supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website.

Related Stories

Princeton graduate student creates computer program to help stabilize fusion plasmas .

A Princeton University graduate student has worked with physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory to develop a method for limiting instabilities that reduce the performance of fusion plasmas. The more instabilities there are, the less efficiently the doughnut-shaped fusion facilities called tokamaks operate.

As he prepares to leave PPPL in 2016, Smith reflects on five decades in physics and at Princeton .

After nearly 50 years on the faculty and staff of Princeton University, A.J. Stewart Smith is stepping down next February from his current post as the University's first vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Smith has played leading roles as an educator, particle physicist and administrator coordinating vast, vital research efforts.

PPPL dedicates upgraded fusion reactor, a powerful new 'star on Earth' .

Scientists, policymakers and Princeton University administrators gathered May 20 to dedicate the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX-U), an upgraded spherical tokamak fusion reactor. Now the most powerful facility of its kind in the world, the NSTX-U allows researchers around the world to explore how to create fusion reactions that could provide society with clean, reliable, safe and abundant power.

Researchers demonstrate new way to sustain high-performance fusion plasmas .

A multinational team led by Chinese researchers in collaboration with U.S. and European partners has successfully demonstrated a novel technique for suppressing instabilities that can cut short the life of controlled fusion reactions. The team, headed by researchers at the Institute of Plasma Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), combined the new technique with a method that the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has developed for protecting the walls that surround the hot, charged plasma gas that fuels fusion reactions.

McComas named vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory .

David McComas, an executive leader in managing various complex technical projects and programs, has been named vice president of the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). PPPL is the nation's leading center for the exploration of plasma science and magnetic fusion energy. McComas also has been appointed professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton.

Hunt for Big Bang neutrinos may provide fresh insight on origin of universe .

At the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Professor Chris Tully is readying a facility to detect neutrinos that appeared one second after the Big Bang, during the onset of the epoch that fused protons and neutrons to create all the light elements in the universe.  

Princeton consortium formed to visualize Big Data .

If a picture is worth a thousands words, a computer graphic is worth millions. With that in mind, Princeton University has formed a consortium that will share efforts to turn mountains of scientific data into eye-friendly computer visualizations.