Announcement of New Executive Director, Dr. Marcela Carena

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (“Perimeter”) today announced the appointment of Dr. Marcela Carena as its new Executive Director. Carena succeeds Robert Myers, who recently completed his five-year term.

Carena, Head of the Theory Division at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and a physics professor at the University of Chicago, is one of the world’s most renowned experts in particle physics.

She is a Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at Perimeter and has served as the chair of Perimeter’s Scientific Advisory Committee since 2022. Carena, the first woman to lead Perimeter Institute, begins her new role on November 4th, 2024. 

“We are thrilled to have a renowned scientist of Marcela Carena’s calibre leading Perimeter into the next stage of its evolution,” said Mike Serbinis, Chair of Perimeter’s Board of Directors.  “As Perimeter enters its 25th anniversary year as one of the leading theoretical physics institutions on the planet, Marcela’s depth of expertise in experimental and theoretical particle physics, as well as her commitment to diversity and training students will strongly position us for the next 25 years,” Serbinis said.

Carena was named a Distinguished Scientist Fellow by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the United States in 2022. In the international arena, she has worked closely with US DOE and the US State Department to promote collaboration between Fermilab and international partners, developing agreements with research councils and institutions across the globe.

Carena continues to be actively involved in efforts around the world to strengthen scientific collaborations and open new opportunities for scientists from diverse backgrounds, including originating a program that has brought students from Latin America to Fermilab to pursue research projects.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be chosen as Perimeter’s new Executive Director,” said Carena. “Perimeter is one of the world’s foremost institutes pursuing breakthroughs in a one-of-a-kind, innovative environment.” 

Carena highlighted the Institute’s impactful role in training international graduate students and postdocs to become future physicists. “Perimeter is inspiring the next generation of explorers across Canada and globally,” she added. “Ultimately it’s the people that make all the difference.”

Robert Myers, who has been Executive Director since 2019, welcomed Carena’s arrival at the Institute.

“It has been an honour to serve as Perimeter’s director these last five years,” he said, “and it is a pleasure to pass the baton now to Marcela. With her outstanding record of innovative research and exceptional service to the physics community, I am certain that her leadership will guide Perimeter into a bright and exciting future.”

During his term as Director, Myers oversaw new growth at Perimeter while navigating the Covid-19 pandemic. He supervised the establishment of Perimeter’s Clay Riddell Centre for Quantum Matter in 2020, launched new initiatives in Quantum Causal Inference and Celestial Holography, and also established Perimeter’s innovative new PSI Start training program. 

Myers remains at Perimeter as a faculty member and BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics.

“On behalf of all of the faculty at Perimeter, we look forward to collaborating with Marcela as we continue to bring together the brightest minds from around the world, nurture emerging new talent, and explore creative new approaches to answering some of science’s deepest questions,” Myers said.

Serbinis thanked Myers and echoed his enthusiasm for Carena’s appointment.

“I want to thank Rob for his leadership, commitment and dedication to building Perimeter into one of the leading centres for scientific research on the planet.  Nearly all the technology we see around us today owes its existence to the theoretical physics breakthroughs of the past century. As Perimeter enters its 25th year, we want to inspire the scientific leaders who will guide us into the next century of remarkable breakthroughs,” he said.

About Marcela Carena

Marcela Carena is the Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. 

Carena is an award-winning Distinguished Scientist, who has been jointly appointed as a particle physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and a physics professor at the University of Chicago, where she has been a member of both the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. She was formerly the Head of the Theory Division at Fermilab.

Her research explores the possible connections between the Higgs boson, dark matter, and the origin of matter in the universe. She has been a leader in exploring radical new concepts such as supersymmetry and warped extra dimensions, particularly in showing how these ideas can be tested in experiments. She has worked closely with physicists at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, in particular with those at Fermilab and the University of Chicago, creating and implementing strategies for discovery. Recently, she has been exploring ideas at the boundary between particle physics and quantum information, to tackle problems of quantum theory and the early universe.

In 2022, Carena was honored as a US Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow for leadership and influential contributions to particle physics and promoting Latin American participation in US hosted experiments. In 2010, Carena won the Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and was a Simons Distinguished Scholar at the Kavli Institute in Santa Barbara in 2013. Earlier in her career she was a John Stuart Bell Fellow at CERN and was awarded a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission to conduct her research at DESY.

Carena is the chair-elect of the Forum on International Physics of the American Physical Society. She has represented the United States at the Particle Physics Preparatory Groups for the 2020 European Particle Physics Strategy Update, as well as at the first community exercise for the Latin American Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructure in High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. 

She was founder of a DOE funded consortium for research in Quantum Information Theory, led by Fermilab and including several universities. She was also founder of an initiative to strengthen neutrino theory research impacting the flagship US neutrino experimental program.

In the international arena, Carena worked closely with US DOE and the US State Department to promote collaboration between Fermilab and international partners, developing agreements with research councils and institutions in Australia, Spain, Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. She continues to be actively involved in efforts in Latin America and other countries to strengthen scientific collaborations at a global scale and open new opportunities for scientists from diverse backgrounds.

She has been a member of several international scientific advisory panels around the world, including the NSERC of Canada, the Serrapilheira Institute and the ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research in Brazil; the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics and the DESY Physics Research Council in Germany. Carena is currently a member of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s committee setting a vision for the field of elementary particle physics for the coming decades. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales of Argentina.

Previously to joining Perimeter Institute as its Executive Director, Carena was on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Perimeter and has chaired that committee since 2022.

About Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics, fostering breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. For 25 years, Perimeter’s innovative approach has empowered scientists worldwide to explore emerging scientific fields, giving researchers the freedom they need to question assumptions and blaze new trails. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Founded by visionary Mike Lazaridis in 1999 and located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.

For more information: 

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