Rolf-Dieter Heuer

Director General of CERN, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, during an interview at Fermilab

Rolf-Dieter Heuer (German pronunciation: [ʁɔlf ˈdiːtɐ ˈhɔʏɐ]) (born 24 May 1948 in Boll) is a German particle physicist and the Director General of CERN since 2009.

Heuer studied physics at the University of Stuttgart. He then obtained his PhD 1977 at the University of Heidelberg under Joachim Heintze for his study of neutral decay modes of the Ψ(3686).

His post-doc studies include the JADE experiment at the electron-positron storage ring PETRA at DESY, and from 1984, at the OPAL experiment at CERN, where he also became spokesperson of the OPAL collaboration for many years.

Having been offered a full professorship for experimental physics at the University of Hamburg, Heuer returned to DESY in 1998. In 2004, he was appointed DESY's Research Director.

In December 2007, the CERN research council announced that Heuer will take office as CERN's Director General starting 1 January 2009, following the term of Robert Aymar.

On 19 July 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Liverpool. In his speech to the graduands he spoke of the need to bring science into mainstream culture.

References

• "Professor Dr. Rolf-Dieter Heuer Appointed as New Research Director", DESY Press Release, Hamburg, 4 October 2004
• "Rolf-Dieter Heuer to be New CERN Director General", DESY Press Releases, Hamburg, 14 December 2007
• "UNESCO and CERN: like hooked atoms; Jasmina Sopova meets Rolf-Dieter Heuer", in "Chemistry and life", The UNESCO Courier, January-March, 2011, pp. 48-50.

Business positions
Preceded by Robert Aymar	Director General of CERN January 1st, 2009–Present	Incumbent