Professor Steven Cowley

Professor Steven Cowley became Director of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Culham Laboratory in September 2008. He received his BA from Oxford University and his PhD from Princeton University. Professor Cowley's post-doctoral work was at Culham laboratory and he returned to Princeton in 1987. He joined the faculty at UCLA in 1993, becoming a full Professor in 2000. From 2001 to 2003 he lead the plasma physics group at Imperial College London, and he remains a part-time professor at Imperial College.From 2004 to 2008 he was the Director of the Center for Multi-scale Plasma Dynamics at UCLA.

His main research interests are: the theory of fusion plasmas, the origin of magnetic fields in the universe, the theory of plasma turbulence and explosive behaviour in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. He has published over 120 papers and articles. Professor Cowley co-chaired the US National Academy's decadal assessment of, and outlook for plasma science: Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest (National Academy Press 2007). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics.