HR0051 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0051 LRB100 08520 MST 18645 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Located just outside Batavia, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ("Fermilab") is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory, specializing in high energy particle physics; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab was founded in 1967 as the National Accelerator Laboratory; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab was renamed in 1974, in honor of Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist who created the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, often called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb"; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab has been the premier particles laboratory in the United States, whose work on the world's most advanced particle accelerators enables them to dig down to the smallest building blocks of matter; and

WHEREAS, The vision of Fermilab is to solve the mysteries of matter, energy, space, and time for the benefit of all, striving to lead the world in neutrino science with particle accelerators, lead the nation in the development of particle colliders and their use for scientific discovery, and advance particle physics through measurements of the cosmos; and

WHEREAS, The mission of Fermilab is to drive discovery by building and operating world-leading accelerator and detector facilities, performing pioneering research with national and global partners, and developing new technologies for science that support U.S. industrial competitiveness; and

WHEREAS, The first director of the laboratory was Robert Rathbun Wilson, under whom the laboratory opened ahead of time and under budget; and

WHEREAS, Since Rathbun Wilson, there have been five other directors: Leon M. Lederman, John Peoples, Michael S. Witherell, Piermaria Oddone, and currently, Nigel Lockyer; and

WHEREAS, Since 2007, Fermilab has been operated by the Fermi Research Alliance, a joint venture of the University of Chicago and the Universities Research Association, which is composed of 89 research universities; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab is part of the Illinois Technology & Research Corridor; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab employs 1,750 scientists and engineers from around the world; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab collaborates with more than 20 countries on physics experiments based in the United States and elsewhere; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab's Tevatron was a landmark particle accelerator, and the fourth largest particle accelerator in the world until it was shut down in 2011; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab also hosts fixed target and neutrino experiments; and

WHEREAS, The groundbreaking work done at Fermilab has led to the discoveries of the bottom quark, top quark, and tau neutrino; and

WHEREAS, Fermilab hosts many cultural events, including not only public science lectures and symposia, but also classical and contemporary music concerts, folk dancing, and art galleries; and

WHEREAS, The site continues to inspire the scientific minds of tomorrow by remaining open to the public from dawn to dusk; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and that we encourage Fermilab, the City of Batavia, and the State of Illinois to continue to encourage the outstanding work and research that they conduct; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Fermilab, the Fermi Research Alliance at the University of Chicago, and the United States Department of Energy Office of Science.