Swapan Chattopadhyay Biography 
Swapan Chattopadhyay is a renowned Indian physicist who specializes in particle accelerator physics. He is known for his outstanding contributions in high energy particle colliders, coherent and incoherent light sources, apart from his contributions to the development of many accelerators around the world. He is the Associate Director for Accelerator Operations, Research & Development of Jefferson Lab's accelerator program including research and development, operations, maintenance and upgrades of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility. He also develops and ensures productive relationships with JLab stakeholders, apart from implementing JLab policies and programs. He heads more than 350 members involving in the research of the physics of particles and light beams, forefront electronics, superconductivity, surface science, cryogenics etc.
He was born in Kolkata in 1951 to a chemist, who worked in telecommunication department. His childhood days were spent in Darjeeling. He was one among the kids who were given mountaineering lessons Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay during the inauguration of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in 1957. This experience at a very young age of 6 gave deep imprints on his mind, and he got attached to nature, trekking etc. He had seriously considered the profession of mountain climbing during his formative years. After the Indo-China conflict over the disputed territory of Tibet, his family relocated to Kolkata in 1960s where he completed his studies.
He completed graduation in Physics from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata in 1970. Then he took M.Sc. degree with specialization in Particle Physics in 1972. He joined Physics department of the University of Oregon at Eugene, USA same year and later done research works in various universities and research institutions. He returned to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1984, giving a new direction to his career. Over the years he has served as director of the Cockcroft Institute in England and also worked in Northern Illinois University and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 18, 2016
